Disgraced peer Lord Hanningfield claims £300 a day for 20 minutes in the Lords Former Conservative turning up at Westminster just to register presence 73 year old was jailed two years ago for fiddling allowance Members of the House of Lords do not get paid a salary Clocking in: Lord Hanningfield has been found clocking in to Parliament for just 20 minutes a day so he can claim £300 in taxpayers' cash A disgraced peer has been found clocking in to Parliament for just 20 minutes a day so he can claim £300 in taxpayers' cash. Lord Hanningfield, a former Conservative, has been exposed for repeatedly turning up to Westminster just to register his presence before heading home again. On one occasion, he was seen arriving at Westminster before departing the Houses of Parliament 21 minutes later to return home, after checking in with a clerk. The 73 year old was jailed two years ago for fiddling his overnight stay allowance. His actions caused the parliamentary authorities to scrap overnight allowances. But an expose by the Mirror showed that the peer was still finding ways to maximise his allowance. Members of the House of Lords do not get paid a salary unlike MPs. Instead, they get a day rate of up to £300 for turning up. But rules stipulate they should take part in votes, debates and in committees. Lord Hanningfield was scrutinised for one month this summer during which he claimed £5,700 despite spending fewer than 40 minutes in Parliament for 11 out of 19 days. But the peer defended his actions, telling the Mirror: 'Clocking in and out of Parliament is only part of being a peer.' The former Essex County Council leader, whose real name is Paul White, also said he had worked 'for 40 years for nothing'. He added that it cost him £150 a day in expenses to attend Parliament so 'I don't really make a profit'. Around half of all peers were doing the same, he added. But turning up to parliament was just part of the Lords' work, he said. Lord Hanningfield was jailed in 2011 for wrongly claiming nearly £14,000 in expenses. The peer was raking in taxpayers' cash at a rate of £174 a night for overnight stays in London at a time when he was not in the city. He was released after three months and put on a home detention curfew. Jailed: Lord Hanningfield was jailed in 2011 for wrongly claiming nearly £14,000 in expenses On the orders of the court, he has also paid back £70,000 in false expense claims. He has claimed more than £50,000 since returning to Parliament in April 2012. The former leader of Essex County Council, who was stripped of the Tory whip in 2010, said that in July he had been 'trying to get myself back on track' after suffering a breakdown because of the expenses scandal. Since October, he said, he had 'dramatically' upped his contributions in the Lords - speaking twice and attending committees. The Mirror said that between April 2012 and July 2013 he claimed a total of £51,300 in attendance allowance despite making no speeches in the Lords chamber. Being a lord is not just going in the House of Lords. It's the post you have. I have 15 letters a day, I have all sorts of things like that,' Lord Hanningfield said. I can do some of it at home, some of it at my office in the Lords. 'I admit I don't go much into the main chamber. If you look at my records since October it's changed dramatically because I've spoken twice. Let me explain again. I was trying to get myself organised after a nervous breakdown, a traumatic period. 'Day rate': Members of the House of Lords do not get paid a salary unlike MPs. But rules stipulate they should take part in votes, debates and in committees