Questions over Foreign Office payments of £1,850 to Norwich City club shop while Liz Truss at helm

The Foreign Office spent more than £4,300 of public money on two trips to the hairdresser and nearly £1,900 at the Norwich City FC shop when Liz Truss was at the helm, documents show.

The payments were highlighted by Labour shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry as she raised concerns over the department's use of government procurement cards.

She has queried dozens of transactions including two payments to a "barber and beauty shop" of £2,360 on 15 November last year and £1,973.30 on 22 March this year.

Ms Thornberry also questioned two payments to the Norwich City online store of £1,318 on 21 October last year and £523.50 on 21 March this year.

It is not known who made the payments or what was bought.

At the time, Ms Truss, who is MP for South West Norfolk and a Canaries fan, was foreign secretary.

In a letter to junior Foreign Office minister Gillian Keegan about the department's card expenditure, Ms Thornberry acknowledged there would be appropriate reasons for the vast majority of purchases made.

She added: "However, there are also numerous items and categories of spending that - on the surface - are not as easy to understand and seem unusual in the context of previous FCDO spending: high end private catering; wellness and beauty treatments; extensive supplies from UK wineries; large amounts of home furnishing; and even £1,841 of spending at the Norwich City club shop."

Ms Thornberry also noted that "especially during a cost of living crisis - taxpayers want to know that every pound of their money is being spent appropriately, and when there are indications of unusual or excessive spending in any corner of government, they will want to see proper checks in place".

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are committed to using public money responsibly. Our staff follow set guidelines to ensure purchases are appropriate and achieve value for money for the taxpayer."