MPs could be forced to decamp from Westminster for up to three years for essential maintenance to take place, it emerged today.

Parliamentary authorities are examining the option of moving MPs out to allow a £250 million renovation of the buildings iron roofs, engineering equipment and wiring system.

The project would take an estimated three decades if builders can only work during the summer and Christmas holidays.

However, the refurbishment - the most extensive refit for more than a century - could be done in three years if MPs are evicted.

Four alternative homes are being looked at: the Queen Elizabeth 11 Conference Centre; Methodist Central Hall; the Church of England headquarters Church House, and County Hall, the former home of the Greater London Council.

The relocation would affect the Commons, select committees and, possibly, the House of Lords and would be the first time parliamentarians have been evacuated from the building since it was bombed in the Second World War.

Details were released in the annual report of the House of Commons Commission, which runs the palace. It must make a decision within three years, with work to start within five.

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