THE Conservative Party's "shadow Cornwall minister" has defended using taxpayers' money for trips to the Westcountry.

The Western Morning News has learned that Mark Prisk claimed up to £300 a time to drive to Cornwall despite there being no "minister for Cornwall" for him to shadow.

He insists he is "sticking to the rules" and only claims when visiting in his other role as a shadow business minister, despite travelling around the county five times in only nine-and-a-half months.

But the Liberal Democrats, who have raised questions about the Tory's role in the county, said the claims were "very concerning" and it was something the Commons authorities should investigate.

From July 2007 to May 2008, Mr Prisk, MP for Hertford and Stortford, claimed £1,130 from Commons authorities to pay for car journeys and a further £209 on a train ticket.

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MPs are paid 40p a mile for the first 10,000 miles a year and 25p a mile thereafter. The figures were obtained by the WMN under Freedom of Information laws.

Under House of Commons rules, MPs are allowed to claim for some travel expenses outside their constituencies if the trips are directly connected to their Parliamentary work.

But there is no "Minister for Cornwall" – Mr Prisk's shadow role was created by Tory leader David Cameron in 2007 to boost the party's electoral fortunes.

Mr Cameron made the announcement in a YouTube video, saying he wanted Mr Prisk to "listen to people in Cornwall, to understand their concerns, to get to grips with the issues and report back to me".

The message was posted online on July 24, 2007. The next day, Mr Prisk claimed £280 for a car trip to Bodmin, Truro, Camborne and Liskeard.

He claimed another £280 over three days from September 13-15 that year, visiting Truro, Newquay, Camborne, Falmouth and St Austell.

Eight weeks later, he returned to visit St Ives, Penryn and Newquay, claiming £260 on November 15 and 16.

And the next month, he was back again, this time travelling by train to Falmouth at a cost of £260, five days before Christmas.

And the final claim, for which figures have been obtained, totalled £310 for a car trip to Saltash and Penzance on May 8, 2008.

On his website, Mr Prisk stresses that his extra travel around is "on Parliamentary business usually to meet groups relevant to either my constituency or my front-bench work".

Mr Prisk grew up in Cornwall, attending Truro School, and still has family in the county.

Last night, he defended the level of travel expense claims for trips to Cornwall. "My role for both shadow business and enterprise and shadow Cornwall means that when I travel to Cornwall, I am dealing with some of the issues which are special there," he told the WMN.

"When I look to visit and talk to businesses in Cornwall, I apply to the House of Commons, I explain what I am going to do and they say whether it is appropriate or not.

"When I visit for purely campaigning purposes, clearly I pay for myself. I stick to the rules very clearly." He defended the decision to visit Cornwall so much, as opposed to other parts of the UK.

He pointed to the future of "crucial" EU convergence funding for the county and there being "a big question mark over the whole regional development issue".

Cornwall also had a "very high proportion of small businesses", he said. "I go to other areas as well.

"Is Cornwall's voice being heard? Am I sticking to the rules? The answer to both of those questions is 'Yes'." But Julia Goldsworthy, Lib-Dem MP for Falmouth and Camborne, said the revelations raised wider questions about the use of public money: "I think it is very concerning information and would appear to reinforce some of the concerns we have previously expressed.

"It looks like something the Commissioner should look into.

"If all of these visits are in his capacity as shadow business minister, he must be spending an awful lot of time visiting other parts of the country as well, to have visited Cornwall five times.

"Very clearly, the public have little confidence in MPs at the moment. There are lots of issues being raised about the way MPs use public money and this is another example of why we need complete openness."

Earlier this year, Commons Speaker Michael Martin was asked by Lib-Dem MP Matthew Taylor (Truro and St Austell) to investigate Mr Prisk's activities in the county.

Mr Martin told MPs it was "wrong" for any Member of Parliament to "take up cases" in other Members' constituencies.

But Mr Prisk claimed the Lib-Dems were "feeling the pressure" of a resurgent Tory Party in Cornwall.