London hospital boosted its budget – and cheered up a few in-patients – by allowing company to shoot porn on its premises, MP claims

A London hospital hired out one of its wards to the makers of a big budget pornographic movie, a Conservative MP told parliament.

Penny Mordaunt, the newly elected member for Portsmouth North, said she had discovered the irregularity while working as communications director for Kensington and Chelsea council, although she did not name the hospital in question.

Speaking at a Commons debate on improving transparency in government accounting, Ms Mordaunt said: "When I was director of Kensington and Chelsea council, I discovered that one of our local hospitals was hiring out one of its closed – but fully-equipped – wards to a film company to use as a film set.

"To add insult to injury, the movie was a pornographic one. Although I cannot claim to have seen the final picture – as I understand, these things are no longer claimable on parliamentary expenses – it was a big-budget affair and generated substantial income for the hospital. But apart from cheering up a few of the in-patients, it cannot be said to be contributing to the objectives of the PCT [primary care trust]."