Michael Heseltine admits 'strangling' his mother's pet dog

Former deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine has made a bizarre confession to a magazine - that he strangled his mother's pet dog.

Lord Heseltine, who served as John Major's second-in-command between 1995 and 1997, admitted he killed the Alsatian after it bit him.

The 83-year-old told Tatler magazine that he was stroking his mother Eileen's pooch Kim when it suddenly attacked him.

"I went to stroke him and he started biting me, here and here", Lord Heseltine told interviewer Charlotte Edwardes.

"If you have a dog that turns you just can not risk it.

"So I took Kim's collar - a sort of choker chain - and pulled it tight. Suddenly he went limp".

Lord Heseltine added: "I was devoted to Kim, but he'd obviously had some sort of mental breakdown. There was no choice".

His wife, Lady Heseltine, told the magazine Kim was a "beautiful" dog with a thick, white coat.

An RSPCA spokesperson said, however, it would not look into the matter as it had happened more than three years ago.

Lord Heseltine's office declined to comment.