Jess Phillips, pictured in her constituency office, was accused of wasting taxpayers' money for using prepaid Commons envelopes and headed notepaper to bombard constituents with election propaganda

A prominent Labour MP has been accused of wasting taxpayers' money after she used prepaid Commons envelopes and headed notepaper to bombard constituents with election propaganda.

Jess Phillips boasted of the service she had given to local people and announced she would be standing again as MP for Birmingham Yardley in a mailing blitz just days after the Theresa May called the snap poll.

One constituent received two letters from Mrs Phillips in two days setting out her positions on both the NHS and social care, despite never contacting the MP.

Mrs Phillips, who is defending a majority of 6,595, was last night ‎reported to parliamentary authorities over concerns she may have broken Commons rules that forbid the use of stationery for political purposes.

In one letter dated 24 April, with the House of Commons portcullis at the top and on the envelope, Mrs Phillips heralded how she had written to the Health Secretary almost 1,000 times since she was elected in 2015.

‘Many thanks for taking the time over the last two years to contact me about our local NHS,’ she wrote.

‘Like you I care deeply about our NHS and I’m concerned about the pressures the system is under, which is why I have written to Jeremy Hunt almost 1,000 times raising local people’s concerns.

‘The financial pressures facing healthcare are particularly concerning and I agree that there needs to be more investment.’

She went on to accuse the Government of wrongly claiming it has put an extra £10billion into the health service, adding: ‘It is vital that the NHS receives the funding it desperately needs, which is why I back plans to do just this.’

A similar letter, also on Commons stationery, thanked constituents for contacting her about social care.

‘Like you I am deeply concerned about the crisis the social care sector is in, and I believe that we have a completely unfair funding system currently in place,’ she wrote.

This is the headed letter a constituent received from Mr Phillips in which the MP boasted of the support she has given to her constituents

Mrs Phillips then included a raft of statistics about the cost of care, before adding: ‘To Birmingham residents and care homes that look after them, this simply looks as though [they] matter less to the Government. This is a postcode lottery and it is not fair.’

In both letters, she announced that she will stand again as a candidate and gave a contact email address that includes the words: ‘JessPhillipsForYardley’.

Jess Phillips, pictured during a TV appearance last October, has been reported to parliamentary authorities over concerns she may have broken Commons rules that forbid the use of the stationary for political purposes

She continued: ‘As you’re probably aware, an election has been called, which means that Parliament dissolves on the 3 May, with the General Election being held on 8 June.

‘I will still be holding my local surgeries and answering your needs and concerns because, for me, the job goes on. If I am re-elected on the 8 June we will continue this important work together.’

One of Mrs Phillips’ constituents, Joanne Neilly, said she had received two letters despite never contacting her.

‘All of a sudden as there is a general election called I have had two letters in two days – two parliamentary stamped letters, both addressed to me and written to me as if I’d contacted her, which I haven’t,’ she said.

‘I have never contacted Jess Phillips, never at all.

‘One letter starts “thank you for contacting me regarding the NHS” and the second is about social care. I thought: “I have not contacted you”.

‘It is a waste of public money. People work hard for their money, I think there are a lot of better things to be spending money on than sending out silly letter a few weeks before an election.

'I think it’s really cheeky.

‘I’m annoyed that I have not heard from her and then all of a sudden… Why should members of the public be paying for her campaign?

‘They’re making cuts, and yet she is spending money willy nilly.’

Theresa May, pictured today out on a factory visit in Cornwall, called a snap election for June 8

Former Lib Dem MP John Hemming, who is hoping to win back the seat after being defeated by Mrs Phillips at the last election, has reported her to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

However, the issue is unlikely to be resolved before the election as once Parliament dissolves on Wednesday the Commissioner will be unable to begin any fresh inquiries or to resolve any that are in hand.

Mr Hemming said: ‘This use of Commons stationery is clearly unethical and against the spirit of the rules, if not the letter of the rules.

‘I will be taking this issue forward. It is a bad use of taxpayers’ money. If it isn’t criminal, it should be.’

MPs have a £9,000 annual allowance to spend on Commons envelopes, notepaper and postage.

Records show that Mrs Phillips was one of only 85 MPs to get within £500 of the limit last year, spending a total of £8,620.67 on envelopers, paper and postage.

Parliamentary rules state: ‘House‐provided stationery and pre‐paid envelopes are provided only for the performance of a Member’s parliamentary functions.

‘In particular, this excludes using stationery or postage in connection with work for or at the behest of a political party (including fund-raising for a political party, advocating membership of a political party or supporting the return of any person to public office).’

House stationery, House emblems and pre‐paid envelopes should also not be used during the period of dissolution, which begins on Wednesday (3 December).‎

‎Last night Mrs Phillips said: 'I keep in touch with my constituents every week, last week was no exception.

‘The letters will have been sent because the constituent wrote to us on that specific subject. In this case the NHS and/or social care.

‘They may not think they have written to us because they don't realise that when they click an online petition it sends us an automatic email in their name.

'We are simply responding to them.’