MPs yesterday warned against a “Bend it Like Beckham” style rule to play the honours system saying celebrities should face the same treatment as the public.

It follows claims David Beckham received advice from Whitehall officials on how to meet strict criteria for receiving a knighthood.

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Labour MP and Shadow Culture Minister Rosena Allin-Khan said there should be no double standards when it came to honours.

She said: “It’s incredibly worrying if people who make the decisions on honours are offering advice to high-profile celebrities.”

Lib-Dem MP John Pugh, who sits on the Commons Public Accounts Committee, said: “No one should be above the law and everyone should pay everything they owe.

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“We shouldn’t create a new ‘bend it for Beckham rule’ for certain people.”

Labour MP John Mann, a member of the Commons Treasury Select Committee, insisted celebrities should not get extra help.

He said: “These things should not be negotiable. Football supporters are expected to pay their full share and so should football players.”

According to reports, David Beckham’s knighthood was all but rubber-stamped ahead of the 2014 New Year’s Honours list until a last-minute intervention from HMRC, blocking it for tax reasons.