British workers are losing up to three hours of potentially productive time every day, with technology being one of the biggest headaches for the average worker, according to a study by BACS Payment Schemes.

More than half of those surveyed, 55%, felt that technology could create extra work. Employees reported that they lose an average of 48 minutes a day due to slow PCs, computer systems crashing and printer jams.

The survey also found 73% of workers found sifting through unnecessary e-mails the most time consuming task.

Michael Chambers, managing director of BACS Payment Schemes Limited, said: "No office can ever be 100% efficient - but it's ironic that so much time is being wasted on the very devices that we trust to streamline office processes."

However it isn't just technology, co-workers can also prove to be an unwelcome distraction.

The average employee wastes 34 minutes a day dealing with colleagues. Other staff moans include losing valuable time because of unnecessary phone and conference calls and inconveniently timed meetings.

Although chatty co-workers and malfunctioning printers may seem like minor irritations, as the survey shows, the time they consume can really add up.

Those three hours a day spent tackling unnecessary or non-work related tasks equals 640 wasted hours a year - the equivalent of 80 working days.

But it's not just employers who are losing out - employees say that they're spending longer at their desks to make up the 23 minutes they spent in a totally pointless meeting, and the 13 minutes they spent scratching around for information that hadn't been filed properly in the first place.