Lunch breaks are becoming a thing of the past as workers log on to Facebook and their emails.

And eight out of ten employees favour working through lunch so they can finish early.

Research by employment law firm Peninsula reveals workers are now averaging just two hours a week for lunch compared to five hours five years ago in 2002.

Many are either staying in their offices surfing the net and updating their Facebook or MySpace profiles, while others prefer to get on with work so they can leave work early.

Alan Price of Peninsula said: "Five years ago, there were fewer social networking sites for employees to browse and less shopping sites than there are in today’s internet society. Employees didn’t have a reason to stay at their desk; they preferred to leave the office where they spent most of their day.”

“Many employees that we spoke to would prefer to work through their lunch so they can finish earlier. Pressures from work, impending deadlines and other factors of the job have also had an impact on whether employees take lunch hours or not. But the respondents that we spoke to for this survey made it clear that their employers did not force them to skip lunch. ”

There are those who do enjoy a full hour out of the office. Mr Price added: "The people that will take fewer lunches will be those in an office environment whilst those in factories, manufacturing and other sectors such as supermarkets etc are more likely to enjoy a full hour for lunch."