Number 10 happy about Larry

The latest holder of the post of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office was installed when Larry the cat yesterday moved into No 10.

British Prime Minister David Cameron gave a warm welcome to the 4-year-old moggy - who promptly fell asleep on a sofa rather than getting to work tackling the rat infestation which has plagued Downing Street in recent weeks.

Larry came highly recommended as a ratter by the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, where he lived after being found as a stray, because of his alert temperament and fondness for playing with toy mice.

The first cat appointed to guard the Treasury lived during the reign of Henry VIII.

The most famous official mouser was Humphrey - a stray adopted during Baroness Thatcher's last year in office and named for Sir Humphrey Appleby, of Yes Minister fame, but pensioned off in 1997 amid reports that Tony Blair's wife Cherie was not fond of cats.

Larry's immediate predecessor was Sybil, who belonged to Alistair Darling's wife Maggie and moved from Edinburgh into No 11 when he became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2007, but returned to Scotland after failing to settle.

The longest serving Chief Mouser was Wilberforce, who stalked Downing Street from 1970 to 1988 serving four Prime Ministers, while the war era No 10 cat was the bizarrely named Munich Mouser.