MPs have asked for a cat after a mouse infestation swept Parliament and taxpayers were left to foot the record £130,000 pest control bill.

The bill includes the costs of hiring a full-time 'pest control technician' and laying over 1,700 bait stations.

The situation has become so dire that Penny Mordaunt MP brought in her own pedigree cat, Titania, to tackle the problem - before officials banned the practice for breaking health and safety regulations.

While Whitehall boasts five mousers - Larry the Number 10 cat, Palmerston the Foreign Office moggy, Gladstone the Treasury puss and Evie and Ossie from the Cabinet office - Parliament has been left wanting.