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Nick Clegg has denied newspaper claims money given by party donors was used to pay for his shopping and mortgage.The Daily Telegraph says the Liberal Democrat leader received up to £250 a month from three businessmen in 2006.
Mr Clegg officially declared the donations to the parliamentary authorities and said the money helped pay for a member of his staff.
A spokesman for Mr Clegg said the money was "properly given, properly accounted for and declared".
Mr Clegg is due to appear alongside Gordon Brown and David Cameron in the second televised prime ministerial debate.
The Daily Telegraph said Mr Clegg received payments from Ian Wright, a senior executive at drinks firm Diageo; Neil Sherlock, the head of public affairs at accountants KPMG; and Michael Young, a former gold-mining executive. All are registered as Liberal Democrat donors.
The newspaper said it had seen documents which allegedly showed the account the money was paid into was used for his mortgage, shopping and other personal expenditure.
But the the donations were registered with the Electoral Commission and with the Parliamentary Register of Members Interests at the time they were given.
A spokesman for Mr Clegg said: "The money was properly given, properly accounted for and declared. It was used to pay part of the salary of a member of his parliamentary staff. It is utterly unacceptable to suggest there was anything improper."
He declined to comment on the Daily Telegraph's motives in publishing the story.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said friends of Mr Clegg had suggested the arrangement was made for administrative ease because there was no separate parliamentary bank account set up at the time.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.