A survey by healthcare cash plan provider Medicash revealed that five times more construction and property people were hitting the bottle than those in other industries.

The firm found that 47% of construction workers admitted to being so strung out at the end of the day that they needed a beer to help them to relax.

The construction industry is also revealed as suffering from the highest rate of sickness absence with almost half of those surveyed saying that they had called in sick twice during the last month.

Results showed 17% of those in the industry admitted to feeling stressed all the time and more than 50% admitted to getting drunk as a way of escaping work pressure.

The situation is even worse for SMEs with those working in small businesses twice as likely as employees in larger companies to turn to drink due to work-related stress

Sue Weir, chief executive of Medicash said: “The survey results indicate a worrying reliance on alcohol to help cope with stress for many in the construction industry.

“This, coupled with the fact that many in the industry operate outdoors in physically demanding roles, could go some way to explaining the high rate of sickness absence.”