WORKERS in the North-west are paying the price of long hours and deadline pressures, it is claimed.

Research for this week's National Stress Awareness Day showed that businesses were failing to address the implications of the 24 hours a day, seven days a week society.

Responses showed that 61 per cent of employees in the region had suffered from work-related stress during the past 12 months, making the North-west one of the most stressful places to work in the UK.

Many employers were seen to be disregarding Government guidelines which state that personnel should not work more than a 48-hour week.

Prof Cary Cooper, president of the International Stress Management Association and Deputy Vice Chancellor of UMIST, said: "Managing people effectively is fundamentally more important than introducing new technology. Employers are always saying that people are their most valuable resource. It is time they stopped talking and did something about it."