More than 2.5 million disposable cups have been bought for use in the Environment Department in the past five years, equivalent to almost 1,400 a day, figures show.

Freedom of Information requests by the Liberal Democrats also reveal the House of Commons catering team have purchased more than 3.9 million disposable cups since 2013.

The figures come amid growing pressure to tackle waste from the "throwaway society", with calls from environmentalists to introduce measures such as a bottle deposit return scheme to cut plastic going into the oceans.

The Liberal Democrats want the Budget to include a charge on disposable coffee cups, which are not easily recycled because of the plastic lining that makes them waterproof.

They point to the success of the 5p charge on plastic carrier bags, which saw the number of single use bags being handed out fall 85%.