Council staff have the worst record for taking time off sick in Britain  clocking up almost twice as many absences as those in the private sector.

Walsall Council has been named the second worst council in the country for sickies, with workers taking an average of 12.1 days off a year  more than double the private sector average of 5.8 days.

The council is trumped only by Hull City Council’s average of 12.6 days, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Employers body the CBI believes that ill health costs local authorities £1.3 billion a year, based on the average absence cost of £595 per employee.

Katja Hall, CBI director of employment policy, said: “These figures show there is clearly much more to be done. We are talking about significant sums of money, at a time when we need to save money.”

Ben Willmott, of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, said one of the problems is the public sector’s “softer edge” on managing absence.

“Sick pay policies pay out on full pay for longer, and the public sector is less likely to discipline or dismiss staff for absence-related reasons,” he said.

“They are less likely to take absence into account when conducting performance appraisals.”

Of the top 100 councils in England and Wales surveyed on the level of sickness absence for the year 2009-10, 41 responded fully, 30 only partially answered and 29 ignored the request.

The Express and Star reported earlier this year that more than 280,000 sick days were taken by staff at the four Black Country councils in nine months.

The number equates to 765 years. Sandwell’s 13,759 workers called in sick 111,860 times, at an average of 8.13 days each, while the 5,923 people on Wolverhampton’s payroll were absent for a total of 50,404 days, with an average of 8.51.

The average of 7.33 days taken by Dudley’s 10,535 saw 77,221 days lost to sickness collectively in the nine months up to January.

And at Walsall Council, the 7,425 full-time equivalent staff racked up 40,095 sickies in only six months, with an average of 5.4.

The figures prompted a crackdown at Walsall Council, and bosses will begin issuing warnings to staff after three spells of absence in a year.

Councillor Chris Towe, cabinet member for finance and personnel, said that the council’s sickness absence rate is “totally unacceptable”.

He said: “While progress is being made, and a reduction has been achieved year-on-year, this is still not significant enough.”