Smokers waste the equivalent of 290,000 working days every year, according to a study by the Benenden Healthcare Society.

It found that workers spend an average of half an hour every working day on fag breaks, often leaving the office seven times a shift to smoke.

Smokers in the North take the most breaks, with just 13% going through the day without having a cigarette, the report found.

A spokesman says: “Cigarette breaks are positive for non-smokers as they minimise the impact of passive smoking but, if smokers are seen to be taking advantage of the breaks they will become unpopular.”