Suffolk MP Tim Yeo has spent more than £1,000 on computers and monitors just months before he stands down as an MP.

The South Suffolk politician spent the money before he would have been banned from doing so under House of Commons rules, which prevent MPs from buying expensive new equipment when a General Election is six months away.

All the claims, which were approved by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority which controls MPs’ expenses, were made in the weeks leading up to September 30. There is no suggestion he broke any rules.

MPs are asked to pass on IT equipment to their successors, or a charity, when they leave the Commons, but that is only guidance and they can keep the equipment if they prefer.

Mr Yeo has not responded to East Anglian Daily Times requests for a comment. Mr Yeo, 69, who was deselected by his local party last year, claimed £1,319 for two computers and monitors.

The spending on new computers emerged in the latest published expenses claims, up to the cut-off date of September 30.

He was one of a number of MPs who will not be in the House of Commons after May 7 who spent taxpayer money on computer equipment.

Mr Yeo, who has been MP for South Suffolk since 1983, and was a member of the Margaret Thatcher and John Major governments, was deselected as the general election candidate by his party last year. Babergh district councillor James Cartlidge, who lives in Assington, near Sudbury, was selected as the Conservative candidate for the General Election in his place.

Mr Yeo is the chairman of the energy and climate change select committee.

He has made thousands of pounds from work outside his job as an MP over the last year. He is a chairman of AFC Energy, a company developing alkaline fuel cell technology; chairman of TMO Renewables Limited; a non-executive director of Groupe Eurotunnel SA, the company managing the Channel Tunnel; and chairman of Albion Community Power.

He is also an advisor to Edulink Consultants, which provides education services in Dubai and Uganda, and also helps strategic communications consultancy Meade Hall & Associates on matters relating to the construction of new nuclear power stations in Europe.