Trish Crawford
Living Reporter

Forget the tea and crumpets, British workers get an afternoon pick-me up by shopping online on the boss's computer.

And on "hump day" — Wednesday — online shopping reaches a fever pitch at 4 p.m., according to a study of U.K. users of online price comparison site Invisible Hand.

While this is the first data showing when workers shop, it is just the latest in a string of studies proving that employees throughout the world use their workplace computers for personal pleasures.

And there's very little employers can do to stop the practice, which IT experts say is here to stay.

Robin Landy, president of Invisible Hand which has 800,000 users, guesses the Wednesday shopping peak is the result of workers cheering themselves up by "ordering things before the weekend arrives."