An MP is claiming £20,000 in expenses for a second home in London because she won't travel by train due to flashers.

Laura Moffatt, MP for Crawley, lives 30 miles away from the capital but said the experience of twice being flashed while travelling late at night forced her to find accomodation nearer Westminster.

She said she no longer feels safe making the 40 minute train journey and for the past two years has claimed an allowance to help her pay the rent on a one-bedroom flat in London.

The allowance, to which all MPs living outside the capital are entitled, came to £21,634 in 2005-06 and £21,823 in 2006-07 - a total of £43,457.

She told The Argus the flashing incidents happened on London to Brighton trains within six months of each other in 2004.

She said: "It was on the Brighton train at about 1am. A man decided to do unpleasant things and it was horrible and I was embarrassed.

"The same thing happened on the same train six months later when there weren't many people on it. It was just me and this other man in one carriage.

"It was then I decided it's not great to go home at one in the morning."

Ms Moffatt, who has since spoken to three other women who had been flashed at by a stranger, said she had decided to claim the allowance reluctantly.

The MP said: "I thought about taking the accommodation allowance long and hard and I didn't want to do it.

"I wouldn't have minded taking the train if we had reasonable hours and I came to work and went home with everybody else. If I got out of Westminster before 10pm it would be reasonable to get home at midnight."

Until the 2005 election Ms Moffatt said she went "back and forth" between Crawley and London every day - a journey which she said took an hour and a half each way "door-to-door" - unless she had to stay very late and get to an early meeting, in which case she stayed in a hotel.

Ms Moffatt pointed out she claimed nothing for London accommodation during her first eight years in Parliament from 1997.

The publication of members' expenses last month showed that all 16 MPs in Sussex took advantage of this allowance last year.

Norman Baker, MP for Lewes, said: "The issue is if she had those experiences it is clearly traumatising for her and we need to try and improve safety for all women on trains generally.

"The real scandal is MPs who have constiuencies in London who claim expenses on homes closer to Westminister."

Inspector Gary Ancell, of British Transport Police, said: "The safety of passengers on late night trains in the south east is safer now than it ever before. It remains one of the priorities. All stations are being equipped with CCTV which is a great aid in criminal inquiries.

"The train operators are investing large amounts of capital in making trains safer and we are working with other partnerships to ensure the safety of all passengers."

According to a survey undertaken earlier this year by Passenger Focus, an independent watchdog, 70 per cent of all passengers on the Southern rail network said they felt safe on trains.

Sharon Hedges, passenger focus manager, said she would encourage any passenger who was the victim of crime or antisocial behaviour to report the incident.

She said: "Brighton mainline services are pretty well-used and services generally have conductors. I think the advice I would give to any lone traveller is to use common sense, get on a coach with other people on it, don't fall asleep and don't get inebriated."

Ms Moffatt said train services were now "much better".

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