The tragic story behind London's smallest public statue

High above the pavement in the heart of the City of London, you can find one of the capital's smallest public statues.

So small in fact, hundreds of people walk past every day completely oblivious to its very existence.

These two mice, fighting over a piece of cheese, have adorned the building on the corner of Philpot Lane and Eastcheap since it was built in 1862.

But if you ask local historians, cabbies or bartenders, they'll tell you it was the nearby Monument to the Great Fire of London where the story behind this little sculpture originates.

Sometime between 1671 and 1677, as the Monument was being built two workmen sat high above the city on scaffolding preparing to eat their lunch.

By accounts they were friends, but all affection was forgotten when one turned to retrieve his bread and cheese and found it half eaten.

Thinking it was his companion he got angry. An argument escalated to a fight and in the scuffle both men lost their footing and fell to their deaths.

It was later found that neither man was at fault. The real culprit for the pinched food was a family of mice living in the building site.

So this little statue commemorates them - the mice, the two workmen and the stolen lunch.

Or so the story goes...