London, Dec 9 : Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, borrowed nearly &pound3,000 from his protection officers as "travel expenses", a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Prince of Wales returned &pound2,744.34 to Scotland Yard after his Royal Protection team paid for "travel expenses" - thought to be flights abroad - on a Metropolitan Police-issue corporate American Express (Amex) card, The Independent reported quoting an official document.

The money was paid back Dec 4, 2007.

The previous month Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, had visited Turkey and Uganda.

"On occasion, and if the need arises, protection officers will incur expenditure on behalf of principals, which are then repaid," a police spokeswoman said.

Ken Wharfe, a former Metropolitan Police protection officer for Charles' late ex-wife Princess Diana told the paper: "It is very rare for members of the Royal Family to carry cash or credit cards so protection officers paying for things is quite a normal practice."(IANS)