A PERSHORE based former vice-president of the European Parliament has hit back at claims EU fraud is rife - saying the bloc has "cleaned up" its act.

Edward McMillan-Scott, a retired former Brussels politician, was an MEP from 1984 to 2014 for Yorkshire & Humber.

The 66-year-old came to fame across the continent for leading the EU's anti-corruption campaign which led to the first ever police fraud squad investigation and the resignation of all 20 Commissioners in 1999, including Leon Brittan and Neil Kinnock.

These days he lives at a farmhouse in Wick, near Pershore, and says he's watched on with bemusement at the repeated claims of the EU still being corrupt.

"When I became vice-president of the European Parliament I was asked to chair its audit panel," he said.

"There are still problems, of course there are - as there would be with any institution containing 28 member states and all the cultural differences in public administration.

"But in 2004 it voted to ban the employment of family members for MEPs, it's now got a lobbying register - these are things British parliament hasn't got.

"The reality is, there is very little fraud these days, and I'm proud of the things we did to clean it up.

"I'm satisfied that during my time on the audit panel things were as good as they could be.

"So when we talk about corruption in the EU, we're talking about something which is largely in the past.

"The EU is not a weak institution, we can make it work in our favour and do things for us."

His comments come after ex-MP David Heathcoat-Amory, a former Tory European minister in the 1990s, visited a Worcester pub to label the EU "corrupt".

During a hustings debate at the Cap 'N' Gown last Monday he said the EU's past fraud probes were as good a reason as any to quit.

Mr McMillan-Scott was vice-present of the European parliament for a decade, from 2004 to 2014 before losing his seat as a Lib Dem.

He was a Tory MEP from 1997 to 2001 but left the party due to David Cameron's decision to split from the mainstream Christian Democrat/Conservative group after the 2009 elections.

Back in 1999 after he flagged up concerns over EU spending an independent report found serious irregularities, nepotism and allegations of fraud, resulting in all 20 commissioners quitting.