THE bill for subsidising the UK Parliament's exclusive bars and restaurants was more than £7 million last year.

Usually the Commons publishes figures that offset sales of souvenirs and gifts against spending on its catering service, making the costs look smaller.

However, in response to a freedom of information request, the authorities said that without this income the operation ran at a deficit of £4.9 million in 2012-13. That was down from £5.5 million the previous year.

The House of Lords said that, excluding revenue from functions and retail sales, its eight catering outlets cost £2.3 million. That was a reduction of around £18,000.

A House spokeswoman said: "The cost arises because of the irregular hours and unpredictably of parliamentary business.

"Food and drink prices were substantially increased in 2010 and are benchmarked against similar outlets outside the House."