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Tory MPs are facing fresh allegations of electoral fraud after apparently failing to declare the costs of negative campaign ads.

At least two Conservative candidates used online adverts designed by M&C Saatchi but failed to mention them in their general election spending returns.

The Tories paid £395,575 to M&C Saatchi for advertising costs in the run up to poll last May, including one “wrecking ball” advert.

The poster and video ad used the slogan “Recovering Economy” and a wrecking ball carrying the words “Don’t Let Labour Wreck It”.

These costs were declared nationally as party spending where the Tories were more than £2 million below the spending cap.

But Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for Energy, ran what appeared to be a local version of the same advert on her YouTube channel on March 29. The slogan was changed to “Unemployment down by 1,921 in Hastings and Rye since 2010”.

It was uploaded on March 29, the last day of the “long campaign”, but does not appear in Ms Rudd’s long campaign election spending return.

Under “advertising”, the only online costs declared were a series of Facebook ads and one £60 bill to her local conservative association for a “pop up banner”.

Ms Rudd did not respond to a request to comment.

Failure to fully declare election spending is a criminal offence under the Representation of the People Act. Breaches can be punished with up to a year in jail or an unlimited fine.

More than a year has passed since Ms Rudd filed her return which means that she can no longer be punished under the act.

Read more:Tories fail to block police investigation into alleged general election fraud

Another Tory MP, Nigel Mills, posted what appeared to be a local version of the “wrecking ball” ad with the slogan changed to “Unemployment down by 59% in Amber Valley since 2010”.

It was uploaded to the votenigelmills YouTube channel on April 8, during the short campaign, which lasts for the final 39 days before the vote. But the only online costs Mr Mills declared for the short campaign was £76 paid by his local conservative association for registering and hosting votenigelmills.com.

(Image: Photoshot)

Mr Mills is already being investigated by Derbyshire Police for failing to declare the costs of a battlebus packed with party activists, as revealed by the Mirror three months ago. Both he and the Conservative Party deny any wrongdoing.

Mr Mills was within £1,114 of his local spending limit during the short campaign. He did not respond to a request to comment about the advert.

An Electoral Commission spokesman said: “Our guidance explains that candidates need to make an honest and responsible assessment as to whether expenses were for their election of whether it was for promoting the national party.

“If used in a constituency and only promotes the national party and national policies then that should count as national party spend. If the cost promotes both the local candidate and national policies then a portion of the cost should be allocated towards the candidate’s spending limit and a portion towards the party’s national spending limit.”

The Conservative Party failed to respond to a request to comment.