PEST control experts have been called out to remove vermin from the Scottish Parliament almost 200 times in five years, figures have revealed.

Professionals were called in a record number of times last year to deal with infestations at the £414 million building, including mice spotted scampering around the debating chamber.

Documents also revealed that pest controllers were called to Holyrood’s MSP block nine times to investigate rodent sightings and deal with infestations of insects.

In 2016 alone, Scottish Parliament chiefs called upon pest controllers to deal with 42 separate incidents across the building’s assembly chamber, MSP block, basement and the historic Queensberry House.

During last year, the assembly chamber suffered three infestations and two rodent sightings, while MSPs reported being disturbed by mice and insects three times as they worked in their offices.

Since 2012, a total of 176 infestations, rodent sightings and bird problems were dealt with by professional pest controllers at Holyrood.

Figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, found that the total bill for keeping the Scottish Parliament’s vermin problem at bay over this period ran to just under £25,000.

Over the five-year period, the problem has grown steadily worse, with the number of pest-related incidents rising from 33 in 2012 to 42 in 2016.

Parliament chiefs said that traps were routinely placed around Holyrood to keep the pest problem at bay.

But despite being forced to call upon the services of pest controllers three times per month, they insisted that “there are few signs of pest activity in the building”.

They added that pest control contractors were brought in to conduct regular checks on the building.

As well as rodents, pest controllers were called in to tackle “moths and insect activity” and “live birds needing assistance”.

In 2014, Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said she regularly spotted a mouse in her office, claiming that the creature emerged most evenings at about 8pm.

A year earlier, the Scottish Parliament chiefs rejected calls made by Nationalist MSP Christine Grahame to bring in a “resident cat as a humane mouse deterrent” after spotting mice “flaunting themselves in broad daylight”.

And in 2008, parliament chiefs spent £13,000 on specialist falconry services to deploy Harris hawks and a peregrine falcon in a bid to drive away nesting pigeons.

A spokesman for the Scottish Parliament said: “Like most city centre premises we have pest- control measures in place to keep pests at bay.

“We have routine visits and traps positioned around the building, although in practice there are few signs of pest activity in the building.”