Taxpayers foot £500,000 bill for Blair's peace role

British taxpayers have spent nearly £500,000 on Tony Blair's attempts to secure a lasting peace in the Middle East, figures showed today.

The Foreign Office has footed a £400,000 bill towards office costs and expenses for the former prime minister.

Four civil servants and a political analyst have also been sent to work with Mr Blair, costing at least £100,000.

The figures emerged amid growing discontent over Mr Blair's job representing the "quartet" of UN, America, the EU and Russia on the peace process.

Mr Blair has had little impact on stopping the violence in Gaza and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has now taken the lead in finding a diplomatic solution.

Just as damaging for Mr Blair, President Barack Obama has also appointed former Northern Ireland peace expert George Mitchell as his own special envoy for the Middle East. Mr Blair visits the region one week every month.

His defenders point out that each of the members of the "quartet" are funding his role.

Mr Blair is believed to have made more than £15million since leaving office in June 2007 from consultancies, book deals and speeches.

However, the former prime minister has faced accusations, which he denies, that his business activities, including working for leading financial institutions, have distracted from his Middle East task.