Shamed MEPs to receive part of £20 million pay-off

Three MEPs accused of abusing their expenses will be paid hundreds of thousands of pounds as part of a £20 million retirement package for British MEPs, it was reported today.

Under the payout, 22 British MEPs who are stepping down this week will each receive up to two years' salary and will share a £10 million index-linked pension pot, according to The Times.

The paper said 17 were also members of the European Parliament's controversial second pension scheme, which allows MEPs to have an additional pension pot of up to £209,000 for every five-year term. An 18th MEP who was a member of the scheme until 2007 will also receive a payout.

Den Dover, who was expelled from the Conservative Party after he claimed around £500,000 in "unjustified expenses", has an estimated pension of £235,000 and will receive a "transitional allowance" of £59,367.

The former Ukip MEP Ashley Mote, who was jailed for falsely claiming benefits of more than £65,000, has a pension worth £174,968 and will receive a transitional payment of £32,382, according to the paper.

As both men are in their 70s they can begin to draw their final-salary pensions immediately.

The former Ukip MEP Tom Wise, who was charged with fraud and false accounting in relation to his expenses, has a pension valued at £235,000 and will get a £32,382 transitional payment, according to reports.