MoD staff clock up a £40k bill to check time
Ministry of Defence staff have spent thousands of pounds calling the speaking clock despite a ban.
Last year the MoD tried to stop staff ringing 123 and they were told to check the time on websites instead.
But calls to the service from the Government department continued – and have cost nearly £40,000 since 2011.
This represents 133,000 calls at 30p each in the last two-and-a-half years.
In 2011, the bill was £15,162 and the department spent £18,804 in 2012.
Another £6,000 has already been spent on the service this year.
An MoD spokesman blamed a “technical error” for calls continuing to get through but said they had now been blocked.