Thousands of mice, rats and birds have plagued Parliament for the last five years

Thousands of pests have been caught in the corridors of Westminster, Metro can reveal.

Pest controllers have had to tackle over 3,000 reports of mice, rats, insects and birds in Parliament, data from the House of Commons and Lords shows.

Issues with unpleasant critters appear to be on the up as well, with the first six months of 2025 seeing almost as many call-outs as the whole of 2022.

Westminster’s pest team logged more than 3,000 reports of pests in the Parliamentary Estate since 2020.

An army of mice is causing MPs and Lords the most issues, with more than 1,000 incidents to do with the small rodents.

The problem has become so bad that Labour peer Lord Gardiner of Kimble called for cats to be brought in to tackle the vermin in July.

They aren’t the only challenge, though. Pesky moths flapping around have triggered more than 150 reports in the last five years.

Others pests have also been caught scuttling around the corridors of Westminster.

Dozens of rats and other ‘mammals’ have also been discovered in recent years.

Parliament’s pest control team has also been dispatched to eradicate scores of unspecified ‘insects’ and flies in the lobbies and grounds.

Despite already employing baits, traps and hawks to prevent pests, issues appear to be on the rise.

During the first two years of the Covid pandemic, there were fewer than 400 pests reported in the Lord’s and shared spaces.

But in 2022, that was at 578, and by last year it had hit 773.

In the first six months of 2025, pest controllers have already tackled 516 reports.

The pest control data was uncovered through Freedom of Information requests filed by Metro.

The House of Lords provided numbers dating back to 2020, covering not just the House of Lords but also spaces shared with the House of Commons in Parliament.

The House of Commons only revealed its pest incidents from August 2024 onwards.

Some of the data covered in both responses might be duplicates of the same pest report, the House of Lords stressed.

The Parliamentary Estate itself is massive, covering 16 football pitches, over 1,000 rooms and three miles of passageways.

With buildings that date back to the tenth century, and its location next to the River Thames, the site has always been vulnerable to pests.

It was revealed last year that Parliament has paid over £100,000 a year for pest control since 2014.

In 2023-24 that figure rose to £136,000 – £10,000 higher than the previous 12 months, according to Daily Mail.

A spokesperson for UK Parliament stressed it is a safe and hygienic place to work.

They told Metro: ‘With an area of over 250,000 m2, the number of pest control callouts for the Parliamentary Estate remains broadly in line with expectations, given the size and complexity of our building portfolio – one of the largest in Westminster and representing dozens of sites.

‘We are committed to maintaining a humane and ethical pest control programme, focussed on preventative measures and the use of various control methods

‘Increases in costs can be attributed to both inflation and increased building work on the Estate, though value for money remains a key consideration and we continue to follow all regulatory obligations.’

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