A notoriously nosey MP has started sniffing around horse manure.

Only metaphorically, of course, but Lewes MP Norman Baker seems to have realised that where's there's muck, there are political points to be scored.

Mr Baker, who asks more questions in the House of Commons than any other MP, has demanded to know how much manure is dumped on the streets and parks of London by Metropolitan Police horses.

The MP, the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesman, wanted to know how much manure is going to waste and how much it costs to clear the horse manure, regarded by some as the ultimate fertiliser.

Mr Baker put down a written question. But environment minister Alun Michael was unable to give him any information about the amount passing through horses and ending up on the streets.

Mr Baker said: "It is not the most pressing of environmental problems but it is something that needs to be sorted with clear guidelines as to who is responsible for clearing the mess up.

"People love to see the horses on the streets and I would like to see the waste they create put to better use as it is such good fertiliser".

Kevin Baker, who runs Baker Garden Services in Chiddlngly and tends many gardens in the Lewes constituency, was surprised the MP was kicking up such a stink. He said: "In my experience this is not a problem because it all washes away very quickly.

"Horse manure is good for gardens but it has to be well rotted."

In February 2002, Channel 4 named Mr Baker Opposition MP of the Year after he asked 262 parliamentary questions in a year, including one which led to Peter Mandelson's second resignation from the Government.

But he was embarrassed last March after filing two questions asking why British taxpayers were funding a £300 million clean-up bill at a polluted nuclear plant in America.

He had confused Springfields in Preston with the fictional Springfield nuclear factory in US cartoon The Simpsons.