Timers have been installed to prevent civil servants from spending any longer than ten minutes in the toilet.

Dozens of workers have reportedly been caught out by the new efficiency drive at the Government Office for the West Midlands; a hidden sensor switches off the toilet light after ten minutes of use. Staff have condemned the GOWM for the move, which was introduced in a bid to help save millions of pounds.

One worker at the offices in Birmingham said: "This was brought in without any staff consultation and is both humiliating and degrading. Can you imagine the indignity of being in a cubicle, letting nature take its course, when suddenly the lights go out, and you have to fumble in the dark to make yourself decent, before struggling to make your way out towards the main door to the toilets where the switch is? All the while you are praying someone doesn't enter the toilets and see you struggling in the dark with your trousers round your ankles."

Similar changes are expected to be rolled out around the country to meet Treasury targets for Whitehall departments to make "efficiency savings" worth £11bn a year. A spokeswoman for the government office defended their toilet light switches insisting they save money and energy. She said: "We have introduced a range of measures across Government Office buildings to reduce avoidable energy consumption and we are continuing with that work."

10 minutes? I wouldn't have answered the across clues in that time!


Further time saving measures brought about even more complaints...

The original was here