PARLIAMENT is infested with all kinds of vermin, official statistics reveal.
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MPs share their den with foxes, mice, pigeons and rats and attempts at pest control is costing the government tens of thousands of pounds a year.
Those are the findings of research into vermin at the Houses of Parliament conducted by The Independent newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act.
Part of the £60,000 bill for sorting out pests goes on a falconer and bird, which do their best to scare away pigeons, but not entirely successfully, if the £1,235 bill for pigeon-dropping removal is anything to go by.
During 2007, there were hundreds of “sightings of mice,” and “reports of fruit flies and an incident of carpet fleas,” Department of Health records reveal.
10 Downing Street is also covered in the report and it seems Gordon Brown’s household has regular summits with representatives of the fox, mice and rabbit communities.
“The age of the building doesn’t really matter much – it’s more a matter of how well it is maintained,” said a pest control expert, possibly handing Brown a soundbite to chuck at David Cameron.
