A sense of job insecurity amid the economic gloom has led to record numbers of UK employees working unpaid overtime, according to research from the TUC.

More than five million people worked unpaid overtime in 2008, says the TUC – 267,000 more than in 2007.

Of those, the average employee worked unpaid overtime for seven hours and six minutes a week and missed out on an average of £5,139 over the year.

Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, said: “Some of this is due to the long-hours culture that still dogs too many British workplaces [but] the recession will now be making many people scared of losing their job in the year ahead and joining the ever-growing dole-queue.

“Inevitably people will be putting in extra hours if they think it can help protect against redundancy or keep their employer in business.”

According to figures collated by the TUC from official statistics, the total value of unpaid overtime in the UK is £26.9 billion.

The biggest increases in unpaid overtime have taken place in London, the East Midlands and eastern England. Numbers have fallen in south-east England and Scotland.

The TUC has previously calculated that if everyone who works unpaid overtime did all their unpaid work at the start of the year, the first day they would get paid would be 27 February.