Foster has been on the run again. But his handlers managed to lure him back into the fold - with a handful of Hula Hoops.

Worcester Labour Party should not worry, though. It is not their MP who has been caught going AWOL. It is the infamous vulture named in his honour.

Readers with a good memory will remember Mike was the butt of many a Commons joke when his namesake escaped from a Norfolk zoo in 2001.

It took a week to catch the bird and it became an instant celebrity.

Over Easter, Foster did it again. But his escape was cut short after his taste for Hula Hoops kept him grounded for just long enough for him to be rcaptured.

Mike, who thought he had heard the last of the bird, said: "I really have to go and meet him."

The bird of prey was named after Mike by staff with a keen sense of irony.

He had come to their attention for wanting to ban hunting.