Research undertaken by Veritas Technologies shows UK office workers are accidentally deleting vital business information from shared, cloud-based applications and that many opt to keep quiet rather than own up to their misdemeanours.

The survey of 2,000 office workers found that the average employee loses 34 documents per year with nearly half of respondents saying they had not been able to retrieve deleted items. And more than four out of every ten workers admitted they had lied to cover up their mistakes.

According to the study, office workers located in Derby are masters of the workplace cover-up with almost three times the national average failing to own up after accidentally deleting data or documents. Office workers in both Gloucester and Nottingham were also among the most likely to keep quiet when they deleted business information on shared applications.