Workers in Kent could have earnt an extra £5,303 if they had been paid for all the extra hours they worked for free last year.

In all 864,000 people in the South East worked unpaid overtime in 2008, the highest number of people in the country.

The total hours are worth a total £4.6 billion, according to an analysis of official statistics published by the TUC today.

The figure of £5,303 is an increase of £50 on the previous year. The average amount of unpaid overtime worked in Kent was seven hours a week.

The South East actually had the biggest fall in the number of people working unpaid overtime on the previous year, with 26,000 less people putting in extra work.

London had the biggest increase with 79,000 more people putting in the extra hours without pay.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “After years of progress, the numbers doing unpaid overtime has increased for the second year in a row. This is disappointing.

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“While some of this is due to the long-hours culture that still dogs too many British workplaces, the recession will now be making many people scared of losing their job in the year ahead and joining the ever-growing dole queue.

“Inevitably people will be putting in extra hours if they think it can help protect against redundancy or keep their employer in business.”

TUC working time policy advisor Paul Fellers said: "In the South East the picture is a bit better than the rest of the country because the number of people doing unpaid overtime fell.

“It’s worth remembering that in the South East there is still the highest number of people doing unpaid overtime.

“Sometimes people do have to work overtime because flexibility is needed in business but if it is regular then people slow down, lose their concentration and make mistakes.”