STRESS and long-term sickness are keeping Bury at the bottom of the absence rate league.

In the last year, the council lost the equivalent of 88,413 full working days through staff being off sick.

This averages out at 15.47 days for each employee, only a fraction down from the previous year's 15.58, placing Bury in the bottom quarter of councils.

Officers, or "white collar" staff, averaged 12.72 days each, while manual workers racked up 26.85 days each. The figure for teachers was 10.88 days. By department, the highest rate of 35.8 days each was notched up by manual workers in housing.

Stress and depression was the main reason given for absences, followed by cold/flu and, for manual workers, back and neck problems.

Council bosses are making sickness absence a key priority to improve its Best Value rating.

They are to bring in stress risk management and focus on long-term absence: in social services, for instance, 72 per cent of absences last longer than 15 days.

They are also looking at improving a "work/life balance" through schemes such as voluntary reduced hours, purchasing annual leave, revised job share options and more flexible working practices.