A CONTROVERSIAL 11 per cent pay rise for MPs has been hotly debated, now one Cumbrian MP has made a U-turn over how they will spend the extra money.

IPSA, the independent parliamentary watchdog, put forward plans to raise MPs' wages by £7,600 - taking them from £67,060 to £74,000 a year.

When the pay rise was first proposed in November 2013, John Woodcock, MP for Barrow and Furness, said he would give the money away - but he has changed his mind.

In a statement, Mr Woodcock highlighted a change in 'family circumstances' as the reason for his decision to now keep the cash.

He said: "It is right that MPs’ pay and conditions are now set independently rather than decided ourselves as they were for decades before I became an MP. 

"We do not yet know whether the current proposal of a rise in take-home pay combined with pension cuts will go through, but if it does I need to be honest with my constituents that I plan to take the extra salary rather than give it away as I had previously intended. 

"My personal circumstances have changed and accepting the salary increase is the only way in which I could, in the longer term, afford to stay in the house on Walney in which my children were growing up before Mandy and I split up and they moved to Scotland.

"If I can, I want that house to remain their home when they are with me in Barrow."

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has vowed to donate his proposed salary increase to charity.

He said: "For MPs to be awarded a pay rise at a time when other people are having to cope with a pay-freeze, or a pay cut, is crass and unjustifiable.

"It's right that MPs' pay is no longer decided by MPs, and right that an independent body now makes that choice - but it shows a shocking example in difficult times like these for MPs to be awarded an increase.

"I have already objected to this rise when it was first suggested several months ago and I remain strongly of the view that this should not be happening.

"If the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority insists on pushing this through, I would expect to do what I did four years ago when we last had a rise and give it away - including to local groups such as the Housing Need charity Manna House in Kendal."

Last night, Prime Minister David Cameron wrote to Ipsa in an appeal to abandon the pay hike, but the watchdog said 'unless there was new and compelling evidence' MPs would receive the £7,600 increase in wages.