Workers at a district council in eastern England must now clock off and back on if they take a cigarette break.

英格兰东部一家地方议会日前规定，工作人员若想出去抽根烟休息一下必须打卡。

Staff at Breckland Council in the eastern English county of Norfolk will no longer be paid for time spent smoking after proposals agreed earlier this year came into force on Monday.

Council leader William Nunn said the policy formalized an agreement made in consultation¹ with（经与……磋商） staff.

"Our flexible working system allows smokers² to take smoking breaks without affecting the amount of time spent working and this brings fairness for all," Nunn said in a statement e-mailed to reporters on Monday.

Breckland Council said staff have viewed the new smoking breaks policy positively³, although there has been no one employed to make certain it was enforced.

Smokers' lobby group Forest said everyone was entitled to a break during work and described the plan as "tyrannical（残暴的，专横的） ," the BBC reported.

"Many smokers believe having the occasional cigarette allows them to refocus," a Forest spokesman told the BBC.

Staff work at the council to a "flexitime（弹性上班制） system" which means they take breaks at different times and if they go out to buy a sandwich they clock in and out by swiping their cards.

The new smoking policy is permanent but will be reviewed in six months, the council said.