Julie Kirkbride has taken the fight for her political future to the doorsteps of her Bromsgrove constituency in the wake of fresh expenses controversy.
The Conservative MP Julie Kirkbride is considering standing down as an MP at the next election, the BBC understands.
Her decision to re-mortgage her second home by £50,000 to fund an extension to it and claim for higher interest payments was in order, she said.
Party sources told the BBC they do not now expect her to visit her Bromsgrove constituency as had been planned.
She said she needed an extra bedroom so her eight-year old son did not have to share a room with her brother.
The Bromsgrove MP had defended her decision to re-mortgage her second home by £50,000 to fund an extension and said she wanted to remain as an MP.
Earlier, she had defended the fact that her brother lived there rent-free.
A Conservative spokesman refused to confirm the news but said: "Watch this space. This is a fast moving story."
The MP said she "understood" public anger about her expenses but said she had provided an "effective" service to constituents and wanted to be re-elected despite more than 4,000 constituents signing a petition calling for her to quit.
She told the BBC that she "bitterly regretted" not questioning her husband Andrew MacKay - the Tory MP for Bracknell who will stand down at the next election following controversy over his own claims - about advice he offered on expenses.
Conservative leader David Cameron has said he was pleased that Ms Kirkbride was "out there explaining why she did what she did".
Public anger
Ms Kirkbride confirmed her 59-year old brother Ian lived rent-free in her Redditch flat some of the time and helped look after her son Angus, enabling her to attend constituency events in the evening.
She also defended increasing her mortgage last year to fund an extension to the flat, which saw the amount she claimed in monthly mortgage interest payments rise to £1,171.
The Daily Telegraph, which has obtained the expenses details of all 646 MPs, published further details of her mortgage arrangements on Thursday.
Ms Kirkbride said it was "inappropriate" that her son should continue to share a room with her brother.
The alternative, she insisted, would have been to move to a larger house which would have cost the taxpayer more.
She told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I understand people are angry about the way MPs' expenses operate, it is very hard to defend and I can understand why questions are being raised.
"But until this week's furore, it didn't cross my mind that I had done anything wrong."
Under the rules which governed expenses at the time, MPs could claim for essential maintenance and alterations required for family reasons but not for modifications or improvements designed to increase the value of their property.
Ms Kirkbride has faced a stream of allegations about her expenses and family arrangements in recent days.
Her husband Mr MacKay has already quit as an aide to Tory leader David Cameron and announced he will be standing down as an MP, after revelations about the couple's second home allowances.
Mr Mackay claimed the second homes allowance on the couple's London flat which Ms Kirkbride declared as her main residence.
Ms Kirkbride said both she and her husband regretted following advice from the Commons fees office but her arrangement was "quite different" to that of her husband, as she had been a "new MP" at the time it was agreed by the Commons authorities.
On Wednesday, she admitted "it might appear strange" that her sister Karen worked as her secretary 140 miles from her constituency but stressed it was an arrangement that had worked "incredibly well" and her sister had done a "fantastic job".
Family commitments
She said she would abide by the ruling of the Conservatives' scrutiny panel if it ordered her to pay the money back, and would stand down as an MP if David Cameron asked her to do so.
But asked about the MP's position, Mr Cameron said she was "giving a good account of herself".
Writing in the Times on Thursday, the MP expressed concern that the row over her expenses might discourage other mothers from becoming MPs.
Ms Kirkbride has said it is up to her local party to decide whether she stands at the next election.
She will spend the weekend talking to voters but will not be attending a meeting organised by her constituents owing to family commitments.
Public funds
Mr Cameron said explaining her expenses to voters in Bomsgrove was "the right thing to do".
Sources close to the Tory leader say he believes she should be given a "fair" chance to clear her name.
He is also satisfied with her decision not to attend a meeting on Sunday of the Julie Must Go! campaign. There is a view in Tory circles that this group does not genuinely reflect public opinion in Bromsgrove.
Tory MP rejects 'staff quarters' claims
But BBC reporter Bob Walker said: "It's hardly a scientific poll, but on the streets of Bromsgrove it's hard to find many people who fully support their MP."
Meanwhile Tory MP Sir John Butterfill has agreed to repay £20,000 in tax and mortgage payments, much of which was claimed from public funds towards staff quarters in his home.
Asked on BBC's Newsnight whether he believed he had done anything morally wrong, Sir John, MP for Bournemouth West, said: "I don't think it is unacceptable because I think that I've been misrepresented in what I did."
