Norfolk MP Elizabeth Truss has delivered another baffling despatch box performance which left a colleague trying to stifle his giggles.

The justice secretary told the House of Commons that barking dogs were being used to help scare away drones from a prison, prompting one Labour MP to jest it was 'the minister who is barking.'

The Cabinet minister told MPs that patrol dogs at Pentonville prison in north London are helping to deter drones that are being used to deliver contraband to inmates.

Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah, who was caught on camera behind her laughing, has previously suggested that eagles could be used to take down drones that are smuggling drugs and other banned items into prisons, but Ms Truss told MPs that she had been at HMP Pentonville last week, where they now had patrol dogs 'who are barking, which helps deter drones'.

The prime minister's spokesman was later asked about the puzzling response.

She told the media that what she thought the secretary of state had been pointing out was that there were a range of option available to governors to stem the flow of drones, phones and illegal drugs.

'This includes intelligence and searches, CCTV and prisons obviously do use sniffer dogs. Dogs do bark.'

Ms Truss' despatch box performances have become must-watch events for political observers.

She became a satire sensation after her over-enthusiastic conference speech in 2014 when she introduced herself to delegates with a food-themed address with the now infamous line: 'In December I'll be in Beijing, opening up pork markets', pausing for dramatic effect after delivering this sentence.

During the same speech, she added: 'We import two-thirds of our cheese. That. Is. A. Disgrace.'