Lord Peter Hain said 44 fires were recorded in the past decade and more than 1,000 asbestos incidents

More than 1,000 incidents of asbestos have been discovered in parliament and at least 44 fires have broken out over the past decade, alarming new figures show.

The details of the prevalence of the toxic material in the parliament buildings were released to the Labour peer and former cabinet minister Lord Peter Hain, who has repeatedly warned that parliament faces the possibility of a Notre Dame-style inferno if restoration work is not sped up.