An investigation into the private life of Labour MP Keith Vaz has been suspended on health grounds.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards was examining whether the former minister had breached the Code of Conduct for MPs after claims he had paid for the services of male escorts appeared in the Sunday Mirror.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for Standards Commissioner Kathryn Hudson said she had suspended her investigation “for medical reasons”.

No further details were given.

Vaz resigned as chair of the home affairs select committee last year when the allegations came to light.

He was being investigated for a potential breach of the behavioural code for Parliamentarians under paragraph 10, which states that “members shall base their conduct on a consideration of the public interest, avoid conflict between personal interest and the public interest and resolve any conflict between the two, at once, and in favour of the public interest; and paragraph 16: “Members shall never undertake any action which would cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, or of its members generally.

Scotland Yard dropped an investigation into Vaz, who remains an MP, over the allegations in December 2016.