A poll for The Great Drink Debate, a Yorkshire and Humber initiative to canvass public views on alcohol, has revealed that Thursday is the day when the most office Christmas parties will be taking place in the region.

Forty-nine per cent of business have chosen this date.

The study, which surveyed hundreds of workers across the region, also revealed 56 per cent of people anticipated they would be feeling ‘below par’ after too many drinks, 22 per cent admitted they might slope in at least one hour late the next day due to a hangover and 28 per cent would consider having a sick day.

According to ONS estimates, this could equate to up to 374,816 lost working hours across the region and 79,662 in Bradford alone.

Dr Paul Johnstone, of the GreatDrinkDebate.co.uk, said: “The Great Drink Debate is not about us being judgmental, it’s about sparking public discussion about alcohol.

“With the office Christmas party such a festive tradition, we thought we’d look at what this might mean for businesses across our region and the findings certainly make interesting reading.”

The on line poll also revealed 70 per cent of all people had turned up to work while still under the influence of alcohol from the night before and a fifth of people knew of a colleague who had been warned in the past about their booze intake.

Organised by the Yorkshire & Humber Regional Alcohol Group, ‘The Great Drink Debate’, which runs until the end of January 2009, aims to get people talking about alcohol issues and giving their views by completing a short survey online at www.GreatDrinkDebate.co.uk.

Findings will shape new regional alcohol strategies, and could help influence future policy on drinks-related issues such as alcohol consumption, licensing hours, binge drinking, through to drink promotions such as ‘happy hours’ and ‘two-for-one’ offers.