Chancellor Phillip Hammond forced to lock up his dogs to protect them from Larry the cat

When the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved his dogs into Downing Street, he worried aloud about whether they’d harass Larry the cat, the long-standing “chief mouser” at Number 10.

With Palmerston the cat living at the Foreign Office and Gladstone in residence at the Treasury, it was thought introducing dogs to mix could upset the balance of power.

But, as it turns out, Larry is not one to surrender territory lightly.

According to reports, Philip Hammond has been forced to lock away his pets, a Welsh terrier called Rex and a dachshund named Oscar — to keep them safe from the cat.

Larry, who has a reputation as political bruiser, has apparently refused to budge — and has even been attacking the Chancellor’s dogs.

“The dogs are not free to roam around the house. The cat is all over the place,” a friend of Hammond’s told The Telegraph. “Larry fights, he is pretty feisty. The dachshund is pretty small and I am not at all sure if it really came to a punch up who would come off best.”

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He has now, perhaps wisely, decided to keep them locked up at Number 11.

Earlier in the year, Larry was filmed attacking Palmerston, and it’s not the first time he’s squared up to a dog.

George Osborne had the same problem with his pooch, Lola.

A friend said: “Lola lived upstairs in the kitchen of the flat and was taken down to the garden and park on a lead for walks. Larry ruled the roost downstairs, mainly asleep on the radiators in the Number 10 and Number 11 hallways.

“He used to come into George’s study and sleep in there quite a bit as it was quieter than No 10.”