LABOUR councillors, still smarting at being labelled "the credit card council" by Ian Clement during his two years as Bexley Council's Tory leader, have been closely scrutinising his expenses claims.

They have been looking at the details of both his Bexley and his Greater London Authority corporate credit cards and have demanded inquiries into Mr Clement's use of both.

The group has raised a number of queries about travel expenses claimed by Mr Clement on his Bexley card and his claims to Bexley for meals, airport expenses and overseas travel.

Some of his travel claims indicate he was travelling to London at around 7am for meetings due to start much later in the morning, plus a claim for breakfast.

Labour members want to know why he was travelling so early that he needed to claim breakfast as well as travel costs.

A number of the claims were in connection with attendance at London Councils meetings, the umbrella and pressure group for all London councils.

But Labour says its investigations show the claims do not always coincide with London Councils meetings.

In one case they say Mr Clement claimed travel to London and £3.40 for coffee at 7.43am at Waterloo station for attendance at a London Councils meeting, but the minutes show he sent apologies to the meeting for non-attendance.

On another date Mr Clement claimed £3.75 for coffee at Starbucks at 7.41am on his way to a London Councils meeting which, according to the Labour group, did not exist.

Another claim shows £12 for lunch and £5 for coffee and cakes, both for two people at Jill Bartlett at City Hall.

Labour says Mr Clement said he had been at London Councils, but it could find no record of a meeting on that date.

On other occasions the Labour group says Mr Clement claimed for meals at times when he was supposed to be in meetings on behalf of the council.

In two cases he claimed for breakfast, once at 10.09am and once at 11.19am, when the London Councils meetings he was meant to be attending started at 9.30am.

Labour is asking for the discrepancies to be explained.

Labour councillors say they fear some of Mr Clement's expenses claims to Bexley were, in fact, related to work he was doing on Boris Johnson's London mayoral campaign.

It is thought Mr Clement's reward for his campaign work was his £127,784-a-year City Hall job.

Labour has already detailed its concerns to Bexley Council officers who are examining Mr Clement's expenses claims.