DOZENS of city centre workers and shoppers had fun in the sun with lunchtime spacehopper races at Piccadilly Gardens.

The event was organised by energy company Powergen, which has carried out a survey of daytime exercise habits and reckons Manchester workers are among the country's laziest.

Kids and adults - many of them trying out spacehoppers for the first time - bounced up and down on an Astroturf track.

According to Powergen, one in 20 workers in the city admits the most exercise they get is going for a cigarette, while 16 per cent said it was buying a sandwich. The company, which has been touring the north west with spacehoppers, is urging workers to use more energy outside and less inside.

Powergen bosses want workers to exercise on breaks and switch off PCs, printers and lights at lunchtime.

Workplace expert Dr Lea Brindle said: "Sitting at your desk and having a sandwich is a very poor way of having lunch and means you haven't really turned off from work.

"Spacehoppers are a fun outdoor activity that can bring a smile to everyone's face, so they are an ideal way to encourage workers to be more energetic during their lunch hour.

"The fresh air, exercise and positive feeling you can get from doing something, even just going for a short walk, can help you much more positive and motivated for the afternoon ahead."

A spokesman for Powergen said: "Just as we can often forget to take a proper break at lunchtime, we don't always realise the large amount of energy things like computers can consume when they're not being used.

"A PC monitor sitting idle, for example, can use as much as 70 per cent of the energy it consumes when it's being used."