Boaty McBoatface tops the poll to name the NERC's new polar research vessel.

KILLJOY scientists will be hauled before MPs next month to explain whether the Boaty McBoatface saga was a taxpayer funded “PR disaster”.

The row over the online poll to name of $A388 million research ship will be subject to an official Commons probe.

The respected Science and Technology Select Committee have summoned witnesses to explain why 124,000 voters face being ignored after a public vote to name the ship backfired.

MPs on the committee are to quiz research bosses on the fallout of the public poll after RRS Boaty McBoatface topped the public poll staged by the Natural Environment Research Council to name its new vessel.

The suggestion scooped nearly four times as many votes as the next most popular one in a public vote to name the National Environment Research Council’s polar research vessel.

But the final decision lies with Science Minister Jo Johnson who has hinted he does not favour the jokey moniker.

Last month fellow government Minister Ed Vaizey sparked a government rift by suggesting that the will of the public should be respected.

And this afternoon the committee boss Nicola Blackwood said the public “want to know whether there’s going to be a ‘Boaty McVolte-face’ on the name.”

“My Committee wants to explore this as an example of science communication. Was it a triumph of public engagement or a PR disaster,” she added.

“We’ll also want to know how NERC intends to build on the mass coverage they’ve attracted and engage people with the vital polar science that Boaty will be enabling.”

Natural Environment Research Council’s chief executive Professor Duncan Wingham will give evidence on Tuesday, but as of yet the Business Minister Jo Johnson will not be summoned to explain his role in the prank.

The 128-metre research vessel is set to launch in 2019 and will carry 90 scientists and staff around the waters of the Arctic and Antarctic in a bid to understand the effects of global warming.

“We’re looking for an inspirational name that exemplifies the work it will do,” the council wrote when it launched the competition.

“The ship could be named after a local historical figure, movement, or landmark — or a famous polar explorer or scientist.

“We would like the name to be inspirational and about environmental and polar science, to help us tell everyone about the amazing work the ship does.”

The second most popular name, Poppy-Mai, picked up more than 34,000 votes.

Other suggestions included “Usain Boat”, “Ice Ice Baby” and “It’s bloody cold here”.

There are growing calls for the boat to be named after the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, who celebrates his 90th birthday on Sunday.

They include from veteran explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

“One part of the world that Sir David has done a great deal to educate us about is one that I have come to know well over the years, the polar regions, where he has investigated the life and habits of the great creatures of the region, such as the emperor penguins, polar bears and the fabulous albatross,” he wrote in theEvening Standard.

“So I should like to propose a really fitting birthday tribute to him: that we should name the UK’s new polar exploration vessel in his honour.”