An MP has criticised High Court judges who spend more than £100 of public money a day on car hire while working in Sussex.

The judges hire vehicles to travel between Hove and Lewes crown courts and their luxury lodgings at Telscombe Manor.

The old country house - staffed by butlers, chauffeurs and a full-time chef - is used by judges visiting Sussex from London to hear cases.

It is used for about 20 weeks a year and costs the taxpayer more than £10,000 a week to maintain.

Lewes MP Norman Baker said costs could be kept down if the judges stopped hiring cars and took taxis instead.

According to figures from the Lord Chancellor's Department, it cost an average of £127 a day to hire cars for judges staying at Telscombe in the last financial year.

It cost an average of £122 a day in 1997-98 and £147 a day in 1998-99.

Mr Baker said: "These judges are spending taxpayers' money with seemingly no regard for value for money.

"Not only do they reside in incredibly comfortable country homes free of charge, but they splash out too on car hire. A taxi would be a fraction of the cost."

"I find them guilty of a grotesque waste of public money. They are spending more every day on hiring a car than many of the pensioners in my constituency have to live on in a week."

A spokeswoman for the Lord Chancellor's Office said judges needed chauffeur-driven cars for security reasons.

She said: "Judges are provided with lodgings which are safe and secure and the same needs to be sure of the transport they use on official journeys.

"Cars are provided primarily for security but also for reasons of confidentiality as they have to transport important documents."