British people work 3.5 years of overtime during their working lives - the equivalent of £80,000 in wages, research shows.

Every week the average worker clocks up an extra 3.8 hours of time spent in the office or place of employment.

On an annual basis that figure adds up to a whopping 186 hours or 25 days, the survey of 3,000 men and women by financial services provider Clerical Medical revealed.

And men work 18 months more overtime during their lives than their female counterparts - in total men work 4.2 years compared to 2.6 years for women.

While as a nation we put in a staggering 719,250,000 million extra days of work every 12 months.

But worryingly the poll also revealed that two-thirds of women and nearly 50 per cent of men don't get paid for the added hours they put in.

John Hiew, managing director of Clerical Medical said: "The work culture in this country has changed dramatically in the last twenty years.

"We really do put in the hours and many of us go above and beyond the call of duty to get the job done, which is testament to us a nation."

A third of men and women admit they work the extra hours just to get the job done, and 12 per cent said it was due to pressure from the management.

While 7 per cent of women and 4 per cent of men revealed that "if they just did the hours I am a paid to then I wouldn't look as dedicated as my colleagues".

On the other hand, 15 per cent love their jobs so much that they don't mind helping out their colleagues and bosses by putting in the extra time and effort.

The survey also revealed that 43 per cent of people have had to go into the office over the weekend - in that last year men have popped in on average 4.4 times, and women 3.8 times.