SCOTLAND’S former finance secretary Derek Mackay claimed more than £4400 in expenses in the aftermath of his resignation from the Cabinet, official figures show.

The MSP quit in February after it was revealed he had sent 270 messages to a 16-year-old boy.

In total, £4406.50 of taxpayers’ money was used to reimburse the shamed minister during February and March this year.

Of that, £2122.90 was spent on accommodation in Edinburgh, £1792.50 on his parliamentary office – £600 of which was on computer systems – and £491.10 on hiring halls, paying for newspaper subscriptions and advertising.

Mackay’s resignation came on the morning of the Scottish draft budget, leaving his then-deputy and current Finance Secretary Kate Forbes to deliver the speech with just seven hours notice.