Thirsty MSPs, parliamentary staff and journalists were left disappointed yesterday after officials forgot to renew Holyrood's drinks licence.

The Scottish Parliament bar - dubbed the White Heather Club by staff - opened up as normal yesterday and by mid-afternoon was doing its usual brisk trade.

But drinkers were then told they had to finish their beverages quickly after it emerged that the bar's licence to sell alcohol had run out two days ago.

The bar was then closed for two hours while officials desperately tried to establish whether they would be able to continue serving beer, wine and spirits.

One drinker, who was in the bar when the mix-up was discovered, said: "I was having a pint of beer when the barman told me to hurry up and finish it because they might be breaking the law by serving drink without a licence."

Edinburgh City Council's Licensing Board has agreed to allow the parliament to continue trading on its old licence until its new application can be considered later in the month.

A spokesman for the parliament last night blamed an "administrative error" for the problem.

He said: "It meant that briefly this afternoon we stopped selling alcohol to make sure we were in compliance with the law. We have been informed we are able to continue trading on our existing license until a renewal application is considered by the Licensing Board later in the month."