EXASPERATED business owners are reporting that workers stealing office supplies is on the rise - with toilet paper and printer ink the most commonly swiped items.

Protecting.co.uk, a health and safety software company, reported some office managers lock supplies away - including essentials like loo roll.

Workplace theft costs businesses in the UK around £190 million per year.

That's an average of £12.50 worth of items per person - the equivalent of almost 30 rolls of toilet paper each.

A survey on 1300 officer workers found 11 per cent of people have stolen a biscuit or pen from a colleague.

81 per cent said they didn’t see a problem in taking a pen home.

16 per cent said they had eaten someone else food and nine per cent said they had stolen toilet paper

93 per cent said they’ve never been caught.