Britain had the expenses revelations. Now its turn for the french to hit the spotlight. It has been revealed that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni have been splashing out more than £660 a day on flowers.

sarkozyTheir extravagant £241,000 annual flowers bill, during the recession, was exposed in presidential accounts for 2008. The president’s third wife, former supermodel turned singer Miss Bruni, is often seen arranging big vases of flowers inside the Elysee Palace. Mr Sarkozy was ordered to pay back £12,000 in personal bills which he had put on public accounts.

A Palace spokesman said the flowers bill was now being cut and welcomed the release of the figures as a move towards “transparent government”.