Bulgarians and Romanians are the hardest working people in Europe, followed by the Britons, according to a new report, cited by the Daily Telegraph.

Workers in full-time jobs in the two newest EU member states put in an average of 41.7 hours every week last year - about two hours more than the average among the 15 original members of the bloc.

Britons worked for 41.4 hours per week in 2007.

By comparison, the French spend an average of just 37.7 hours a week at work, effectively giving them an entire afternoon off.

The figures come from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions - an organisation set up by the European Union. It found that workers in the 12 new member states that have joined the EU since enlargement began in 2004, work considerably longer than those in the original 15 members - at 40.6 hours a week compared with 39.5 hours.

The study also found that Britons are effectively working for free for longer than anyone else in Europe.

Nor do the British make up the gap in extra holidays. At an average of 24.6 paid leave days per year.UK workers fare less well than the average EU worker at 25.2 days, and are considerably worse off than the Swedes, where paid leave is the longest in Europe at 33 days.

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