Liverpool City Council has told staff not to use email internally on Wednesdays, in a move designed to encourage staff to use more traditional forms of communication.

The Council introduced the weekly internal 'ban' after bosses realised that its 6,000 staff sent each other 40,000 messages a day, The Liverpool Echo reports.

Chief Executive David Henshaw said he hopes the Council's experimental prohibition on email would "liberate" staff, and encouraging them to the bottom of problems rather than passing the buck via email.

"Emails can help staff to communicate faster, but there are times when it would be quicker simply to pick up the phone," he told the news agency. "Too often people retreat behind emails and forward problems to colleagues without solving them."

"This ban is an experiment but hopefully they will find it easier and better to communicate with a living person, even if it is only once a week."

Staff we still be free to send external emails, even on Wednesdays, so the move will not effect council tax payers in the city.

The 'ban' is really more a suggestion since staff who flout the prohibition won't be punished, though transgressions will be "frowned upon" by managers. Liverpool council insists the ban has nothing to do with concerns over workers spending too much time on personal emails.

Perish the thought. ®