More than 1,350 requests from council staff to work from overseas have been approved over the past three years, according to new data.

The number of approvals increased to 708 in 2022-23, up from 440 the year before, the Daily Mail reported.

In 2020-21, during the pandemic, there were 73 approved requests, including some staff working from abroad as Covid restrictions disrupted their returns to the UK.

A further 137 requests were approved over the past three years by councils who did not supply a yearly breakdown.

Barnet Council in north London granted the most requests to work from abroad, a total of 286. This was followed by London councils Merton, which approved 251 requests, and Islington, which approved 237.

Islington Council said its total included cases of staff looking to take their work device abroad in case they needed to use it in an emergency while on holiday.

The report is based on Freedom of Information requests sent from the TaxPayers’ Alliance to 383 councils in the UK, with 320 responding.

More than 70 councils across the UK gave the green light to staff requests to work from abroad.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, reportedly said: 'Residents forking out record rates expect officials to be using the office space taxpayers are footing the bill for. Council staff should get off the sun loungers and get back to town halls.'

A spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA) said: 'Councils have long experience of managing staff remotely and it is a matter for individual councils to agree where staff can work from depending on their role and ensuring the needs of the business are met.'