The hosting of UK government sites such Job Centre Plus and the Pension Service in the US is a slap in the face to UK businesses, according to search engine optimisation firm NetCallidus.

Routine research and analysis performed by the the company discovered a number of .gov.uk sites being hosted in Sunnyvale, California.

"At a time when the UK economy is teetering on the edge of a recession, this is an out and out insult," said Mark Furber, managing director of NetCallidus.

"There is no good reason why this work should be given to another country. It might save a few pounds, but sends the wrong message about how much the government cares about British business."

Furber believes that this socially irresponsible and that the work would be better done by a UK business anyway.

"We always advise our clients to host their websites in the country they are aiming at, as it is one of the factors that can influence search engines like Google."

"These sites are clearly aimed at UK people so should be hosted in the UK to ensure that the highest number of people find them."

Furber also highlighted issues around latency, security and management as reasons for governments to host public service sites within their own country.

The various departments were not immediately available for comment regarding this issue.