<b>By Sonny Day</b>

Suffolk companies lost millions of pounds today when skiving workers 'popped outside' to see the solar eclipse - and went to the pub for a couple of hours.

Rather than enjoying the most spectactular astro show for years, the staff used it as an excuse to skip work for most of the morning.

Bosses were furious, unable to distinguish the workshy from those who had genuinely nipped outside to enjoy the spectacle for ten minutes.

The Suffolk Chamber of Commercial estimated 250,000 workers in the county went to the pub rather than watching the eclipse and returning to work.

Spokesman Hugo Boss said: "Our members reported offices and factories emptying as staff took the opportunity to do a runner under the cover of darkness.

"We reckon three hours of productivity has been lost, and that will cost the Suffolk economy about £110 million. Further, when these workers did eventually return to work, they were tipsy."

<div class="getty embed image" style="background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:379px;"><div style="overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.996047% 0 0 0;width:100%;"><iframe src="//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/464782709?et=A2DfQSq5S41F8LsrsClnJA&sig=3I4s5_WUljMhPPKg5IX6BQOU_a3ooXBXLk7bOqYjerI=" width="379" height="254" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></div><p style="margin:0;"></p><div style="padding:0;margin:0 0 0 10px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/464782709" target="_blank" style="color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;">View image</a> | <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com" target="_blank" style="color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;">gettyimages.com</a></div></div><center><i>Eclipse: Where the sun don't shine</center></i><br><br>


But it was not all eclipse doom and gloom - Suffolk pub landlords were enjoying their windfall. One, Don Heavyhand from The Rising Sun pub in Ipswich, said: "We had loads of office staff in this morning enjoying a crafty pint or two. We made £5,000. Cheers!"

Police say there was some good news - they caught loads of dozy burglars who turned out during the eclipse, thinking it was night time.

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