WAS CLEETHORPES MP WISE TO ACCEPT FREEBIE TICKET FOR ENGLAND FOOTBALL MATCH?

Wembley Stadium at night - MP's match ticket was courtesy of a construction company

CLEETHORPES MP Martin Vickers is the latest in a growing list of MPs to have accepted free tickets for international football matches.

Mr Vickers was gifted the ticket for the England v Albania match at Wembley Stadium on November 12.

In front of 80,366 fans, England ran out comfortable 5-0 winners, thus almost guaranteeing a place in the World Cup in Quatar later this year.

The MP has declared the gift in the latest Register of MPs' Financial Interests, stating the value of the ticket to be £539.

The donor was a London-based civil engineeering company, Elysium Construction Ltd.

Other MPs to have received match tickets and 'hospitality' last year include Mike Wood (Con, Dudley South) and Charlotte Nichols (Lab, Warrington North - who both attended the England v Denmark semi-final in the Euros - plus Alberto Costa (Con, S. Leicestershire) who was given a ticket for the Italy v Spain semi-final in the same tournament.

In those three instances, the tickets were donated by beer company Heineken, a sponsor of the tournament.

The Grimsby News says: It is disappointing that Cleethorpes' MP is the latest to clamber aboard the freebies gravy train. Whether accurate  or not, the perception among constituents will surely be that he has risked compromising himself. Why did Elysium Construction Ltd donate him a ticket? What was the motive? If Elysium decides to bid for a huge contract in Cleethorpes or, more likely, on the Humber Bank, will Mr Vickers be expected to 'put in a word' on their behalf?