British MEPs have voted against revealing how they spend their staff, office and travel allowances worth more than £220million a year.

European parliament documents reveal that MEPs voted by ten to one against the proposals.

Conservative, Labour, Ukip and Liberal Democrats groups who represent 64 British MEPs voted to overturn a proposal demanding 'an end-of-year public report' on their use of allowances which are worth an average of around £300,000 each.

Only five MEPs - two Greens, two SNP and one from Plaid Cymru - supported greater scrutiny.

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British MEPs have voted against revealing how they spend their staff, office and travel allowances worth more than £220million a year (file photo of European Parliament)

MEPs also voted 576 to 74 to block 'obligatory annual reporting' on a perk known as the general expenditure allowance (GEA) which costs the taxpayer almost £30million every year, according to the Times.

Under existing rules, GEA worth a staggering £38,000 - which is supposed to help with office expenses - is paid directly into MEPs' bank accounts.

They do not need to provide proof of any expenditure and there is no supervision over how they are spending the money.

an SNP MEP who voted for more public accountability said too many British MEPs regarded the allowances as their personal property.

Alyn Smith added: 'It is the next big scandal. It truly is. It is viewed, to all intents and purposes, as personal money. I already publish my accounts. This vote gives the lie to some of the rhetoric we hear from certain parties.

'It is telling that it was left to the Scots and Welsh Nationalists, with the Greens, to fight for new politics that expects total transparency with public money.'

Ukip MEPs including the party's leader Nigel Farage have written to the European Parliament asking for their voting record to be reversed after they 'voted the wrong way by accident', the Times has reported.

Their spokesman said: 'In a complex 80-page voting list we, hands up, made a mistake, failed to vote the way we intended and so our MEPs have been asked to change their vote as soon as possible.'

The Conservatives defended voting against exposing the accounts, with their spokesman saying: 'Alternatives may have sounded tough and were good for grabbing a headline, but in the real world of European politics they would never have achieved the political support needed to get any real progress.'

Ukip MEPs including the party's leader Nigel Farage have written to the European Parliament asking for their voting record to be reversed after they 'voted the wrong way by accident'(file photo of European Parliament)

MEPs awarded themselves an extra £13,000 a year in allowances for assistants this week, despite concerns the funding worth £142million a year is being abused.

MEPs are also paid a daily 'subsistence allowance' worth £220 in cash a day without having to prove how they spent the money - as long as they sign a register 'during parliamentary activity periods'.

A policy analyst at Open Europe has accused MEPs of 'exhibiting a lack of sensitivity to public opinion, specifically when it comes to their own behaviour'.

Pawel Swidlicki told the Times: 'While Ukip's self-serving stance is not surprising, it is hugely disappointing that the Tory, Labour and Liberal Democrat MEPs closed ranks to vote against greater expenses transparency.

'It is not consistent to talk up the need for EU reform at home but then obstruct it within the European parliament.'

A spokesperson for Conservative MEPs has told MailOnline: 'No delegation in this parliament sets greater store by transparency than British Conservatives publish our GEA spending on a regular basis and we have set the standard in Brussels on this issue.

'We supported the amendment as the only realistic avenue to achieve tighter rules on accountability.

'The alternatives may have sounded tough and were good for grabbing a headline, but in the real world of European politics they would never have achieved the political support needed to get any real progress.