CONSERVATIVE leader David Cameron has spoken out in support of Leominster MP Bill Wiggin, accused today of claiming a phantom mortgage.

Mr Cameron told interviewers that Mr Wiggin had made what looked like a bad but honest mistake in claiming for a mortgage on his constituency home when he meant to claim for his London home.

Mr Wiggin has been telling interviewers that he only claimed public money on the mortgage he had for his London home, but filled in the claim forms wrongly. It took just over two years for the parliamentary fees office to spot an error that Mr Wiggin said was immediately corrected, and has stayed so since.

This week Mr Wiggin told the Hereford Times that he was confident his expenses would stand up to scrutiny and, through the paper, called a public meeting in Leominster for constituents to quiz him on his claims. That meeting, in the Rankin Club, Corn Square, Leominster, at 4pm next Wednesday (May 27) is still going ahead.