We'll decide where you put your pen, tidy office police tell civil servants

And to keep workplace essentials exactly where they should be, consultants have told civil servants to mark out spots for their pen, phone and computer keyboard with black tape.

The idea is part of a £7million Government 'efficiency' drive to improve the working environment of public-sector staff.

It is being piloted by hundreds of workers who process National Insurance payments.

But union representatives believe the project is 'demoralising and demeaning'.

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, which is paying for the so-called Lean Thinking programme, said the tape would help to keep desks clear of clutter.

It is 'much better to work in a tidy work environment where everything has its place', officials said. 'Part of the Lean processing is to clear the workplace and only keep essential items to hand,' said a spokesman.

'This is in line with the work-station ergonomics training that all our staffreceive and complies with the display screen equipment regulations.

'The markers on desks are used to demonstrate that it is much better to work in a tidy environment where everything has its place.

'Staff involved have confirmed they prefer the tidier workspace.'

But union leaders say the scheme is impractical for shift workers who share desks.

Kevin McHugh, branch sec-retary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, at Longbenton National Insurance complex, near Newcastle, said the project would lead to endless rearranging of desks.

'If the person coming in after you has longer arms, he will have to move the markers,' he added.

'This office has been open for 60 years and people have managed to find their pens and staplers without consultants helping them in that time. Marking the desks tends to get members upset sometimes when they've got personal photographs on their desks and they have to move them around.'

Last year, it emerged tax collectors subject to the same Lean project had been told to take down family photographs in case they made them unproductive. Managers at HMRC offices in North Wales told staffto tidy up their desks and remove their family snaps.

According to a leaked memo, it was supposed to encourage 'efficient business processing'.

The edict also banned workers from keeping food on their desks and restricted them to one cup, pen and pencil.

Fruit was allowed only if it was 'active' - jargon for whether or not it was about to be eaten. So-called 'inactive' fruit was outlawed.

One worker had a banana on his desk and was asked whether it was 'active' or 'inactive'. He was told he had to eat it or remove it.

PCS members in HMRC centres took strike action in July as the Lean system was introduced.

The union said it leads to 'deskilling' of civil service work. A work to rule protest followed in October.

'A tidy work environment'