People working from home are spending an extra €500 a year on average to cover the costs of not being in the office.

Home workers consume more gas, water and electricity by day, as well as extra essentials such as coffee and toilet paper, the national budget institute Nibud has calculated.

It said the average cost added up to around €43.30 a month. Many home workers have also invested in computer equipment and office furniture during the lockdown.

Meanwhile, the motoring organisation ANWB said a majority of workers wanted to keep on working from home part-time after the lockdown and summer holidays.

Three-fifths of people questioned in a survey said they would like to be out of the office two days a week, while 20% preferred to go back to work full-time. The ANWB said it had queried a representative sample of 2,000 people across the Netherlands.

The organisation said staggering home working could help solve the problem of long tailbacks during peak hours.