OXFORDSHIRE MPs have voted to overhaul their disciplinary process instead of approving a six-week ban for a fellow MP.

North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson was found to have broken lobbying rules and faced a six-week ban from the House of Commons.

However, an amendment was tabled calling for a review of his case and the wider standards system.

An amended motion was passed 248 votes to 221, a majority of 27.

An investigation found Mr Paterson repeatedly lobbied ministers and officials on behalf of two companies – Randox and Lynn’s Country Foods – which were paying him more than £100,000 per year.

Mr Paterson accused Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, of making up her mind before she had even spoke to him.

He called the process ‘biased’ and ‘not fair’, and said Ms Stone had refused to hear from 17 witnesses who would have supported him.

All four Conservative MPs in Oxfordshire – Robert Courts, John Howell, David Johnston and Victoria Prentis – voted to overhaul the disciplinary process, while Labour MP Anneliese Dodds and Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran voted against.