Nearly a quarter of men view pornography in the workplace, according to a newly published poll by Harris Interactive.

Of the 500 people surveyed, just under a quarter of men admitted to looking at pornography at work, compared to 12 per cent of women. But only 17 per cent of men said that they 'intentionally' watched porn, compared to 11 per cent of women.

The survey also highlighted the mistrust that the internet has engendered between staff and management. IT directors estimated that staff spent an average of just under six hours a week online for personal reasons; the actual figure is 3.4 hours per week.

"With the sheer quantity and variety of websites and applications readily available, many employees are either not admitting to, or most likely not aware of, how much time they are really spending on personal surfing," said Geoff Haggart, European vice president at Websense, which has sponsored the survey for the past five years.

"The solution lies in balancing employees' need for personal use of the web at work without draining overall productivity, morale or the company's bottom line."

Overall 62 per cent of men and 52 per cent of women accessed non-work related websites, the most popular being news, email, online banking and travel sites.

However, the number of people playing games on their computers during work hours has more than halved, down to six per cent from 12.44 per cent last year.

The survey also found that 39 per cent of staff had personal files on their computer that took up between five and 10 per cent of the hard drive, while one in 10 had more than this amount.