British businesses are losing more than £50m a year because of employees skipping off work on Friday afternoons, according to research by personnel software company Employersafe.

A growing number of staff are treating the last day of the working week as an unofficial holiday, the company claims.

It found the top excuses for starting the weekend early are a long lunch, doctor's appointment and an out-of-office meeting near to home.

The company added that the Friday Feeling trend has been reinforced by motoring organisations which report that the Friday rush hour now starts around noon.

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