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Council workers shown the door over Web abuse

Will Sturgeon Silicon.com

Published: 28 Oct 2002 18:14 GMT

Five council workers from the Wirral, Merseyside, have been suspended over allegations they were using council computers to download and view pornographic images.

The individuals, who all work for Wirral Council's young offenders team, were removed from their duties last week after routine monitoring of employees' web use revealed those concerned had breached the council's guidelines on appropriate internet use in the workplace.

The five workers are currently suspended pending further investigation. Councillor Chris Blakeley told local press that if they are found guilty of surfing for porn on office computers then further disciplinary action will be taken.

He added: "The council is taking this very seriously and a full investigation is taking place at the moment. When that has been completed the council will look at what to do next.

"It would be inappropriate to comment any further as disciplinary action could then be taken."

The suspensions follow a survey last week which revealed company bosses are monitoring employee web use more assiduously than ever before.

This latest case joins a growing catalogue of workplace disciplinary measures taken against staff misusing the internet. In July Hewlett-Packard sacked suspended 100 staff for distributing porn on company computers. Fellow computing giant Dell also made headlines last year when a worker was fired for a similar offence.

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