The Conservative Party today suspended the whip from MP Nadine Dorries after it emerged she was planning an extended absence from Westminster to appear on TV's I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

A senior party source said that the Mid-Bedfordshire MP would remain suspended pending a meeting with chief whip Sir George Young, though it is not yet known when this will take place.

The MP was subjected to a barrage of criticism - some of it from fellow Tory MPs - after it was revealed that she could be in the Australian bush for up to a month filming the ITV show.

A Conservative spokesman said: "George Young has suspended the whip from Nadine Dorries. He will have an urgent meeting with her when she gets back.

"The concern is that she will not be doing parliamentary or constituency business in the meantime."

Ms Dorries, 55, who has been a prominent backbench critic of Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne, will face eating bugs and offal as the first serving MP to take part in the programme.

But her stint in the jungle - which could see her missing an EU budget vote and potentially be away for Chancellor George Osborne's mini-budget - caught even her own colleagues off-guard.

Her constituency chairman said he was unaware of her involvement in the show and Home Secretary Theresa May said she believed an MP should be doing their job in their constituency and in Parliament.

And Totnes MP Sarah Wollaston said she should resign as an MP if she wants to become a celebrity instead.

"I am horrified," Dr Wollaston told BBC Radio 4's PM. "We have a serious issue in Parliament with under-representation of women... This sends out entirely the wrong message about why women are important in Parliament.

"I think it makes us look ridiculous and it brings politics into disrepute. Nadine should decide whether she wants to be a celebrity, and if so - if she wants to be a celebrity - in my view she should resign.

"She needs to consider what she wants to do and if actually she wants to do a serious job - which is about representing her constituents - she needs to be doing that here in Westminster, not in Australia.

"I think there are also issues about taking a kind of second salary. If she were going to be doing that in Australia, certainly that should all be returned to the taxpayer. One tweet I've had says it all: `I hope she has to eat a lot of insects.'"

Ms Dorries, who earns more than £65,000 as an MP, has flown out to Brisbane to prepare for the show. She also stands to pick up a fee for appearing on the programme.

She justified her decision to take part, telling The Sun: "I'm doing the show because 16 million people watch it. If people are watching I'm A Celebrity, that is where MPs should be going.

"I'm not going in there to upset people, but I have opinions."

Conservative former minister Ann Widdecombe condemned the withdrawal of the whip from Ms Dorries.

"I just can't believe it," Miss Widdecombe told BBC Radio 4's PM. "I don't know who is advising David Cameron, because now the story isn't 'Should Nadine be doing this?', the story is now 'Heavy-handed response from the whips' office'.

"If Nadine does get it right out there, they have got themselves into a very silly situation. Why on earth couldn't they have said it is a matter between Dorries and her constituents and left it at that? Silly, silly idiots."

Miss Widdecombe, who appeared as a celebrity contestant on Strictly Come Dancing after leaving politics, added: "If she had asked me - which she didn't - I would have said don't do it for two reasons.

"Sitting MPs, unlike former MPs, do have to consider both time and dignity. This is not recess, this is the session. She is not away just for a week, she is away for anything up to four weeks. I think the loss of dignity is going to be hugely risky for a serving MP."

The ITV1 series returns to screens on Sunday as the latest intake of contestants are seen entering the jungle camp.

In past years contestants have been asked to eat an array of stomach-churning meals as part of the regular "bushtucker trials". These have included crocodile penis, camel's toe, pig's anus and kangaroo testicles.

Contestants have also had to wade through gunge-filled tanks and been covered in insects, spiders and rats.

An ITV spokeswoman declined to comment on Ms Dorries's inclusion in the show, saying only: "ITV have not announced the line up for I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here."

And Ms Dorries' constituency chairman said he had not been informed she was taking part and would consider "further action" depending on views within the local association.

"She is a very good constituency MP, she is very diligent and she spends a lot of time on the job and I'm quite surprised that she has decided to just go away and take part on the programme," said Paul Duckett, a Central Bedfordshire councillor and chairman of the Mid Bedfordshire Conservative Association.

"We shall find out what she is doing, where she is and what she is intending to do and if it is in contravention to anyone's opinions within the association then we will take further action."

Speaking before the suspension of the whip from Ms Dorries, Mrs May told ITV's This Morning programme: "Each individual Member of Parliament has to decide how they're going to do their job and it's up to Nadine to decide how she wants to do her job. Frankly, I think an MP's job is in their constituency and in the House of Commons."

Matthew Sinclair, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "While she is being a Z-list celebrity, her constituents will be without an MP."

But her decision to take part was welcomed by some. Lembit Opik, the former Lib Dem MP who took part in the reality show after losing his seat in 2010, backed her appearance. He said: "Good on Nadine Dorries for the jungle if she's really going in. Go gal."

LibDem chief whip and Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichal joined the fray, winning Tweet of the Day on some political websites for posting on Twitter: "Nadine Dorries, I served with Lembit Opik, I knew Lembit Opik, Let me tell you, Nadine Dorries, you are no Lembit Opik."

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said he would do his best to ensure Ms Dorries stayed in the jungle, telling ITV News: "I'll obviously miss her and I'm going to have to struggle on bravely without her. But I, like a loyal friend, will be voting to keep her in as long as possible. I shall be ringing in religiously every week to keep her there."

Other figures expected to take part in this year's show include darts player Eric Bristow, actress Linda Robson and ex-Coronation Street star Helen Flanagan, who played Rosie Webster.