A new study has found that a significant number of people from the UK choose to carry out safe shopping online while they are at their place of work, according to the International Business Times.

Atomik Research published the results of a survey, which found that an estimated 10 million working adults indulge in a little e-commerce during their time in the office, which accounts for just over a third of the total workforce.

There are many businesses which are concerned about the extent to which internet access is a distraction for employees in the modern age, with shopping online being just one of the things that can prevent individuals from being productive.

Collectively, this means 125 million working days are being wasted each year as a result of online shopping. This is based on the fact that respondents admitted to spending an average of 24 minutes each day using the internet, for purposes that are not related to their work.

The study actually revealed that there are regional divides between e-commerce habits for workers, with people who live in Leicester averaging just over 45 minutes a day, while those in Nottingham sit at a more respectable 14 minutes.

The time of day has an impact on how many people are likely to shop online at work, with the report finding that 11am on Monday mornings is generally the busiest period for this type of activity.

The retailers that people visit while at work tend to be part of the supermarket sector, with Tesco proving to be the biggest draw for consumers. And so, presumably, people are arranging their weekly food shop while they are at work so that they have more free time to themselves when they get home in the evening.