Britain's Houses of Parliament are infested with vermin - no, not politicians, but rats and mice.
£60,000 was spent last year in trying to eradicate pests which include fleas in government buildings.
The current Houses of Parliament, which are actually a royal palace (Westminster Palace) were built over a period of thirty years after the former Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire in 1834. Control of the Palace of Westminster was, for centuries, exercised by the Monarch's representative, the Lord Great Chamberlain, but control passed to Parliament's two Houses in 1965.
Revealed: The Houses of Parliament really are infested with vermin
By Daily Mail Reporter
19th November 2008
Daily Mail
While it may not come as a shock to most, it has finally been confirmed the Houses of Parliament and government departments are being overrun with vermin.
Last year £60,000 was spent eradicating infestations of rats, mice and even fleas at Westminster and government buildings.
From January last year to February this year, there were 195 rodent sightings, of which 22 were found in the Commons.
Outbreaks of fruit flies and one incident of carpet fleas also kept pest controllers busy.
Full of vermin: The Houses of Parliament
Records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Independent show that a monthly graph is kept of mouse sightings in the buildings, including within the House of Commons and the House of Lords
The Department of Health, which is responsible for drawing up policy to deal with public health issues presented by pests, also spent £2,383 last year on dealing with "sightings of mice, reports of fruit flies and an incident of carpet fleas".
In a statement the parliamentary managers said: "The estate encounters some pigeon and gull activity which is controlled by the services of a falconer and also suffers occasional fruit fly activity, but these incidences are not recorded separately. Specific data is only recorded for mouse sightings as these account for the vast majority of pest issues."
Dirty rat: There were 22 rodent sightings in the House of Commons
Kevin Higgins, deputy chief executive of the British Pest Control Association told the Independent: "These are problems you will get today in almost any office in the UK. Rats will go anywhere they think they will find food and fruit flies can congregate around any spill of drink or food that is discarded in a difficult-to-reach place.
"The only answer is scrupulous hygiene and the proofing of buildings. You need to seal up airbricks with mesh to stop rodents getting in. The age of the building doesn't really matter much – it's more a matter of how well it is maintained."
dailymail.co.uk
£60,000 was spent last year in trying to eradicate pests which include fleas in government buildings.
The current Houses of Parliament, which are actually a royal palace (Westminster Palace) were built over a period of thirty years after the former Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire in 1834. Control of the Palace of Westminster was, for centuries, exercised by the Monarch's representative, the Lord Great Chamberlain, but control passed to Parliament's two Houses in 1965.
Revealed: The Houses of Parliament really are infested with vermin
By Daily Mail Reporter
19th November 2008
Daily Mail
While it may not come as a shock to most, it has finally been confirmed the Houses of Parliament and government departments are being overrun with vermin.
Last year £60,000 was spent eradicating infestations of rats, mice and even fleas at Westminster and government buildings.
From January last year to February this year, there were 195 rodent sightings, of which 22 were found in the Commons.
Outbreaks of fruit flies and one incident of carpet fleas also kept pest controllers busy.
Full of vermin: The Houses of Parliament
Records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Independent show that a monthly graph is kept of mouse sightings in the buildings, including within the House of Commons and the House of Lords
The Department of Health, which is responsible for drawing up policy to deal with public health issues presented by pests, also spent £2,383 last year on dealing with "sightings of mice, reports of fruit flies and an incident of carpet fleas".
In a statement the parliamentary managers said: "The estate encounters some pigeon and gull activity which is controlled by the services of a falconer and also suffers occasional fruit fly activity, but these incidences are not recorded separately. Specific data is only recorded for mouse sightings as these account for the vast majority of pest issues."
Dirty rat: There were 22 rodent sightings in the House of Commons
Kevin Higgins, deputy chief executive of the British Pest Control Association told the Independent: "These are problems you will get today in almost any office in the UK. Rats will go anywhere they think they will find food and fruit flies can congregate around any spill of drink or food that is discarded in a difficult-to-reach place.
"The only answer is scrupulous hygiene and the proofing of buildings. You need to seal up airbricks with mesh to stop rodents getting in. The age of the building doesn't really matter much – it's more a matter of how well it is maintained."
dailymail.co.uk