The Minister of Works and Engineering has blamed poor accounting by staff for his GP1 blunder in the House of Assembly in June.

On June 20, Minister Derrick Burgess announced that $40,000 had been spent on repairing the Premier's old car, a Peugeot 607, since the Government bought it eight years ago.

Jeff Stirling, the general Manager of Continental Motors where the car was serviced, however had hit back at this amount saying the correct amount was actually closer to $25,800.

So in a letter to the Speaker of the House, Mr. Burgess said the amount he gave on June 20 was a misrepresentation due to accounting and that he was happy to set the record straight that $25,858 had been spent on repairs.

"I have now been advised that the amount of $40,000 provided for my consideration by staff at the Government Quarry and based upon invoices provided by Continental Motors Ltd. was incorrectly calculated by Quarry staff," he said.

"In a few instances erroneously including estimated costs for repairs in the total amount.

"In these circumstances I wish to confirm that the actual amount spent on repairs to the old GP1 between 2003 and 2007, as maintained by Mr. Jeff Stirling of Continental Motors Ltd. stands at approximately $25,858."

The Peugeot 607 was bought in December 2000 for $61,300, but a further $10,000 was going to be needed this year for more repairs.

Mr. Stirling had told the Bermuda Sun, however, that this amount was steep because the car had been driven without water and the gearbox had been damaged.

According to Mr. Burgess, that was the reason why a BMW 750 Li was bought for Premier Ewart Brown earlier this year and he apologised for the mistaken calculations.

He added: "Needless to say the inclusion of the incorrect amount in my statement of June 20, 2008 was in no way intended to mislead my Honourable colleagues.

"Additionally I deeply regret any embarrassment, inconvenience or discomfort caused to Mr. Stirling and Continental Motors Ltd. as a result of the inadvertent dissemination of this inaccurate information."