WORKERS across Huddersfield were urged to go home on time today - to highlight the amount of unpaid overtime they usually put in.

Trades union leaders staged the first-ever Work Your Proper Hours Day to encourage people to take a proper lunch break and leave work on time.

TUC regional secretary Paul Jagger said Yorkshire's 400,000 workers "gifted" their employers an average of seven hours and 36 minutes of unpaid overtime every week.

That amounted to about 40 days unpaid work a year.

He said: "Today, we are urging workers everywhere to use the time they normally spend working late at the office to do something for themselves.

" We'd like them to make the most of their time - perhaps by visiting an exhibition at lunch time, spending more time with their kids or catching a show after work."

Said Mr Jagger:

"Other European countries don't share our obsession with long hours - and their economies are much more productive.

"We've asked everyone to work only their contracted hours - for bosses to learn to appreciate their staff more."