A Labour MP has hit back at accusations of hypocrisy for seeking an unpaid intern.

Feltham & Heston MP Seema Malhotra advertised for a volunteer to work in her Westminster and Constituency offices for four weeks, with just expenses on offer.

The placement was criticised by her Conservative rivals, who pointed out former Labour leader Ed Miliband had pledged to end the "scandal" of unpaid work experience by banning unpaid internships lasting longer than four weeks.

Simon Nayyar, who stood against her in May said: "As the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Feltham & Heston at the general election, I frequently had to suffer Seema self-righteously banging on about the need for a Living Wage - something we should recall George Osborne introduced, not Labour.

"Reviewing Seema's recent ad offering a four-day a week unpaid internship, you're left with the inescapable conclusion that the advertised functions and duties seem closely to resemble those of a full-time paid job.

Simon Nayyar

"But maybe we shouldn't be surprised that the MP who lives in a £7 million mansion in Chelsea no longer realises Feltham and Heston residents expect an almost full-time job to be remunerated."

The political blogger Guido Fawkes also questioned whether the placement was in keeper with Mr Miliband's pre-election promise.

But Ms Malhotra defended the opening, pointing out she had long campaigned to increase work experience placements, even recording a video for Channel 4 two years ago calling for school work experience to be made compulsory.

"I absolutely support paid internships and have made public statements to this effect.

"I have also seen the benefit of short term work experience particularly for young people to gain access to the world of work through deepening understanding of different work environments and challenges," she said.

"That is why the provision also of short term work experience placements is important – which I support up to a maximum of 4 weeks.

"This may be for school pupils, college students or for people looking for a job, where they believe the experience will help their job search and help build new skills."

She added that the £7.20 Living Wage being introduced by chancellor George Osborne was well below the London Living Wage of £9.15 and could lead to a decrease in household income in the capital.

Ms Malhotra's advert said tasks would include office administration like filing and photocopying, database management, data inputting and help with managing her diary and events.

It stated: "This is an ideal opportunity for the successful candidate to develop their skills and experience, and further improve their CV in a busy office environment."