A survey of 415 business users by Mesmo Consultancy showed that 50 per cent are unable to ignore their email when out of the office on leave or off sick. Only 17 per cent let a colleague handle their emails when absent.

Yesterday, IT PRO reported that a travel company started a campaign to leave Blackberrys at home when on vacation.

Another 12 per cent of respondents said they check their email over five times a day and over 80 per cent read every single email they receive.

"The role that email plays in office politics (CC and BCC being the most lethal weapons), the fear of missing something and being blamed for it, together with the amount of personal emails received at work addresses are surely accountable for the lack of delegation and obsessive inbox scanning behaviour, contributing directly to the addiction," said Dr. Monica Seeley, founder of Mesmo.

Over two-thirds of the respondents said their frequent email checks are self-inflicted, while only 20 per cent log in so much because their office expects it of them.