IT would take 23,000 household batteries to run a basic office for one week costing the equivalent of £17,500.

Research carried out by Powergen for Energy Efficiency Week has revealed that a basic desktop computer and screen would get through 44 standard AA batteries in an hour with a desk lamp using up to nine batteries.

Powergen believes that office workers find it almost impossible to quantify the amount of electricity that office equipment uses and so don't bother to switch off appliances to save power.

Powergen's SME manager Neil Gould said: "We found that the length of time a battery works for is a measurement people tend to understand."