WORKERS are facing disciplinary hearings and being warned about misusing the Internet in the face of a boom in networking websites like Facebook and MySpace.

Businesses and councils have drawn up revised policies on using the Internet - and employees have been told "we're watching you".

The Vale of the White Horse District Council has blocked access to Facebook and MySpace - and at Oxfordshire County Council bidding for items on auction site eBay is banned.

Twenty-one council employees in the county have been disciplined in the past five years for Internet misuse.

And Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce spokesman Claire Prosser said: "Staff who use social networking sites and abuse the trust and facilities of their employers are threatening the productivity of their company.

"These sites are highly addictive. Businesses are under enough pressure to become more efficient and issues such as this add to their already mounting workload."

Facebook and MySpace allow users to upload personal profiles and photos and are among the world's most popular English-language websites.

Oxford city councillor Dr Tia McGregor, who has a Facebook page, said: "Anything can be potentially a problem if someone's spending too much time on it.

"Employees have a responsibility not to waste time. I think some people are spending too much time on it."

She said employees should be allowed to use Facebook during breaks.

Sue Shutter, the council's head of human resources, said: "We take matters like this extremely seriously.

"We have disciplined 17 members of staff in the past five years for using their work computers inappropriately."

County council spokesman Paul Smith said: "Illicit or inappropriate websites should not be accessed and selling or taking part in online auctions is not permitted. Online gambling is not permitted and downloaded music and video files are not permitted."

Cherwell District Council introduced a revised Internet access policy at the start of this month.

Spokesman Sylvia Herbert said: "The council decided to make social networking sites open. However, they will be monitored to see if they become a bit of a time-wasting exercise."

Vale of the White Horse spokesman Nikki Malin said: "Social networking sites and eBay are blocked to employees using the council's Internet access."

A spokesman for South Oxfordshire District Council said: "We can produce usage reports, which can form part of an informal disciplinary process."

Phil Martin, of West Oxfordshire District Council, said: "We restrict personal use of the Internet to out of core hours. We have put a ban on staff using certain sites altogether."

Oxford University Press and BMW said they were unaware of problems with Internet misuse.

Publisher Blackwell's said it did not have a problem with staff misuse, but was always monitoring the situation.