TORY MP John Greenway is recovering well after undergoing surgery to have a tumour removed from his left leg. Surgeons at the specialist cancer hospital, the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Hospital, operated on the MP for Ryedale earlier this week.

A spokeswoman for the MP said the surgery had been successful, with the tumour being completely removed and doctors hopeful there was no secondary cancer. “He is expected to make a full recovery,” she said.

She revealed Mr Greenway, 63, hoped to start dealing again with correspondence and other paperwork as soon as today, and hoped to be back in the Commons chamber within a fortnight, if all continued going well.

Mr Greenway was recently criticised for spending £500 on flowers for his second home in London and £3,500 on household goods and furnishings, including a £399 flat-screen television. At the time, Mr Greenway said he was “deeply saddened” a newspaper had chosen to “sensationalise” his expenses claims.

She said the MP, who will be standing down at the next General Election, was expected to remain in the hospital for the rest of the week and recuperate at home next week.

He could not drive for the time being, but if he felt able to go on the train, he might come up to his constituency home to convalesce. Otherwise, he would stay in London.

She said Mr Greenway had not been ill and had not realised there was anything wrong until a couple of weeks ago, when he had noticed something was wrong on the back of his thigh and gone to his GP to check it out.

The tumour had been quickly diagnosed and arrangements made to have the op. “It has all happened very quickly,” she said. She said Mr Greenway would need to exercise the leg during recovery to build the muscles up.

Fellow MPs from North Yorkshire wished him well. Selby’s Labour MP John Grogan, speaking after being infor-med of Mr Greenway’s operation by The Press, said: “I would like to extend my best wishes for a full recovery. I usually meet him at the racecourse a couple of times in the summer and hope he will be there again to give me and some fellow MPs some winners!”