The costs are thought to include the provision of a car plus security equipment such as alarms and closed-circuit television cameras fitted to his flat. SO1 is providing the security detail.

Lord Nazir Ahmed, a Pakistani-born member of the ruling Labour Party, has written to British Home Secretary Alan Johnson urging him to stop spending taxpayers' money on protecting Musharraf.

'I think the government needs to review Mr. Musharraf's security. There are people within Britain who could do with those extra police officers rather than a man who can afford private bodyguards,' he said.