MP Keith Vaz tried to hide his real identity from two male escorts by telling them he was a washing machine salesman named Jim.

He blurted out the pseudonym as he was about to engage in sexual activity with two Eastern European male escorts.

As they discussed sex, the men asked the married Labour MP about his work.

Mr Vaz said: “These are industrial washing machines, that I sell. Industrial. For big – for hotels.”

He went on to say the machines were used to clean towels in bulk.

Minutes later, as the men said they undressed, one of the escorts asked Mr Vaz: “What’s your name, by the way?”

He replied: “Jim”, then spelt it out letter by letter, saying: “J-I-M.”

But Mr Vaz had already been rumbled because one of the escorts said he ­recognised the famous and powerful MP from his frequent appearances on television.

Mr Vaz gave the false moniker at his meeting with the men eight days ago.

It followed a string of text messages in which details of the late-night rendezvous – timings, venue and financial arrangements – were discussed.

A statement seen by the Sunday Mirror shows two cash deposits of £150 each were paid into an account after details were texted to Mr Vaz.

Each time the money was paid in by a man linked to Silver Star – a diabetes charity set up by Mr Vaz six years ago when the MP developed the illness.

The first payment was made on August 5 with the reference “Painting”. There is no suggestion the man knew the real purpose of the payment.

A day earlier Mr Vaz texted one of the escorts to say a payment would be made ahead of a further meeting.

He wrote: “I will send you £100 as a gift from me because you need some money.”

When asked to make it £150, the MP replied: “OK but next time you and [the other man] see me you better be extra nice. What is name and banking details.”

The money was paid the following day. And on August 23, the day before the second payment was made, Mr Vaz texted one of the escorts saying: “£150 for you, me, bf and Romanian.”

This referred to a plan for the escorts to supply a third man so that a foursome could take place.

The two escorts attended the final meeting with Mr Vaz on August 27.

When they arrived at his flat in Edgware, North West London, the MP sounded calm and quickly engaged the men in friendly chat.

During the meeting Mr Vaz, who said he had just got back from a foreign holiday, said he would pay the two men 100 dollars in cash and an extra £40 in sterling.

At one point, he was quizzed on whether he had ever bedded a colleague, but he told the men: “Never mix business with pleasure.”

The escorts said the flat bore no sign of any personal effects.

They told how the fridge contained little but water and cola and kitchen drawers were empty.

They said there were no photographs or trinkets on display.

The conversation centred on sex but at times drifted on to other subjects – including Man United’s match with Hull, which Mr Vaz said he had attended that day.

At one point the teetotal MP sent one of the escorts to go and fetch a bottle of whisky from the back seat of his car – for the two prostitutes to drink.

The two men sat drinking whisky while sitting in the living room of the flat.

The younger escort asked for a small drink saying he was wary of alcohol because he had passed out when he overdid it while celebrating an earlier birthday.

Mr Vaz replied: “You must have had a great time.”

Before sexual activity, Mr Vaz looked at the profiles of gay men on dating app Grindr, shown to him by the escorts.

At one point, sounding anxious that they were unable to find another man to join them, Mr Vaz urged the men to get back on to Grindr.

Mr Vaz said: “See who’s in the building.There must be someone around here.”

When shown another profile, Mr Vaz said: “Oh, he’s nice, yeah, ask him what he’s doing.

“Would he like to join a private party? We could send pictures of our boyfriend as a teaser.”

When the escorts suggested Mr Vaz offer money to people from Grindr he replied: “Ok, fifty quid. Will they come for money?”

After the 15-minute sexual encounter, Mr Vaz and the men moved into the kitchen, where the MP asked the escorts to wash up their whisky glasses.

Then he told them to put the bottle in the fridge.

He then cheerily asked them: “You’ve got your stuff? Got everything you need to take with you?”

As the men nodded and walked out of his front door Mr Vaz added: “Right, OK, see you soon.”

Then he texted the older escort several times in the days after the meeting making friendly chit-chat.

Sounding keen to secure another encounter, the MP added: “Travelling next week will contact you when I get back”.

He then signed off with a smiley face emoticon.