ANNE Moffat, the beleaguered Labour MP for East Lothian, has been accused of trying to save her career by using public money.

On the eve of a party investigation into a bitter civil war within her constituency, Moffat drew on a £10,000-a-year Westminster allowance to send thousands of leaflets to voters listing her political achievements.

Described as her "Annual Parliamentary Report", the glossy eight-page mailshot featured 29 photographs of the MP, including one of her meeting the Queen.

Labour activists said the leaflet had "come out of the blue" and appeared to have been flung together to show Moffat in the best light during her dispute with the local party.

Moffat defended the leaflet as professional, and a long time in production.

Much of the text had already appeared on her website several months ago, and some recycled items were more than a year old.

In addition, most of the back page was from a recent Channel 4 press release about a documentary on Nigeria, while other pieces of text were from charity websites, or had been used in press releases by other Labour MPs, although these cover topics in which Moffat has expressed interest.

A senior Labour member in East Lothian said: "This was out of the blue. It's too coincidental that this has gone out at the same time as the inquiry."

Another said: "It was a bit strange. She's done a report for party members before, but this one was longer, more detailed, and went to everyone in the county. Mine arrived three days before the inquiry started."

Some disaffected activists have also been surprised to receive a Christmas card from Moffat for the first time in several years.

Last month, Labour's UK leadership suspended the East Lothian Constituency Labour Party (ELCLP) after it passed a motion of no-confidence in Moffat and accused her of bringing the party into disrepute.

The no-confidence vote followed a local row over Moffat's sacking of three staff in 2005, and her controversial re-selection in 2007 as Labour's candidate.

A former president of Unison, she was re-selected thanks to union block votes despite strong opposition from activists in what is Scotland's biggest local Labour party.

She has accused her opponents of being "bullies" who are afraid of "strong women".

The civil war is a nightmare for Iain Gray, Labour's Holyrood leader, as he represents the East Lothian seat in the Scottish Parliament.

Last weekend, an official Labour investigation into the dispute heard from Moffat and her supporters, as well as those who believe she has become unelectable and ought to stand down as the candidate.

The row has been acutely embarrassing for Moffat, and has been covered extensively in the local press.

Moffat's mailshot began dropping through letter boxes in East Lothian in the days immediately before the inquiry began.

Since April 2007, MPs have been allowed to claim up to £10,000 a year as a communications allowance to send newsletters, reports and surveys to their constituents.

Between her election in 2001 and 2007, Moffat had one of the lowest claims for official stationery and postage of any MP.

Andrew Sharp, SNP candidate for East Lothian, said: "This has got a real feel of hanging on by your fingertips.

"Anne Moffat's use of the publicly-funded communications allowance is questionable - it is just there to help her save her political hide.

"What really matters is policing how the allowance is used, to make sure that something that is there to inform the public shouldn't be misused to help you bolster your own position."

Moffat confirmed the report was produced using the Communications Allowance, but said it was "absolute nonsense" to suggest it had been timed to coincide with the ELCLP crisis.

"It was all in the pipeline long before the inquiry and I hope people appreciate it. It's not something unusual. I think it's a pretty good piece of work."

Asked why much of the content had been recycled from websites and press releases, she said: "I'm not going to comment any more."