More than half a million workers across Kent and the south east now work from home, according to research by the TUC.

Ahead of National Work from Home Day on Thursday, it found that nearly 570,000 people, 13.6 per cent of the region’s working population, now work from home, a 13 per cent increase in the past 10 years.

The TUC says that if employed people who are normally based at home are included, the south east has seen a 25 per cent increase over the same period.

Across the UK, an estimated 3.5 million people now work from home - one in eight of the population or 12.2 per cent.

The south east has the UK’s third-highest level of home working, exceeded only by the south west (15.7 per cent) and Eastern England (14.4 per cent). The lowest is in the north east with 9.3 per cent, followed by Scotland with 9.4 per cent.

"The benefits of working from home, even occasionally, are now widely accepted," said Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, the not-for-profit organisation behind National Work from Home Day.

"Not only does it reduce the amount of commuting people have to do, enhancing their work-life balance, but many are actually more productive.

"Although many organisations practise the age-old philosophy of 'presenteeism', they should open their eyes to the new work ethic spreading across the UK and try out home working: they may well be surprised."