UKWilliam Hague signs off £10,000 taxidermy bill for 20ft anaconda snake called Albert hanging in the library
- Foreign Secretary called in a team from the Natural History Museum who spent five weeks with an X-ray machine restoring the reptile
- The snake has hung in the Foreign Office library for 120 years
- A spokesman admitted it was 'quite a bit of money' but insisted: 'We will not scale back in our dedication to preserve national treasure'
By Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor
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Despite insisting deep public spending cuts were ‘essential to the future of the country’, William Hague signed off on the extraordinary bill for the restoration of the 120-year-old anaconda.
The reptile hangs in the library of the Foreign Office, but was found to be in ‘poor condition’ so a refurbishment was ordered.
The Foreign Office insisted Albert the snake is a 'unique historical heirloom deserving of essential maintenance'
A team from the Natural History Museum spent five weeks on the work, using an expensive X-ray CT scanning machine.
The Foreign Office, which is cutting its budget by a quarter over four years, defended the work, saying the snake had not been restuffed for up to 50 years.
The snake is thought to have been presented by a Bishop, in what is now Guyana, to the Colonial Secretary in the 19th century.
According to the Foreign Office and Commonwealth Office (FCO), exact names and dates are unknown but Albert was pictured in Whitehall building in 1892.