Devine, 57, who was the Labour MP for Livingston, has been accused of submitting five false invoices for cleaning and maintenance on his London flat and two false invoices for printing.

The print invoices, which totalled £5,505, were claimed for stationery from Armstrong Printing. However, Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, told jurors at Southwark crown court that the invoices were "a fiction".

"No such costs had been incurred," he added. "It was merely a device used by Mr Devine in which to receive a substantial amount of public money to which he was not entitled."

The court heard that Devine, who denies the charges against him, was almost always overdrawn and that the claims were sufficient to extinguish his overdraft.

The trial continues.