Social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are more popular in the UK than in any other European country.

According to figures from online measurement firm comScore, these sites reached more than three quarters (78 per cent) of Britain's online population during August, compared to a not insignificant 56 per cent across Europe as a whole.

In the UK the average visitor spent 5.8 hours per month on sites like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, making more than 23 visits.

This potentially cuts into their working hours in the office, and in response to this social networking boom many companies have banned the use of Facebook at work.

Managers worried about possible security issues arising from the use of these sites are advised to make sure they have adequate IT support in place.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that top Google engineer Benjamin Ling has quit the company in order to join Facebook. He follows Gideon Yu, former chief executive at Google's YouTube, to the social site.

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent)