Mayo Clinic vertical workstation allows staff to exercise while they work

US obesity experts claim to have designed a vertical workstation that will enable employees to take exercise and shed weight as they work.

Boffins at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota said the machine could help obese people lose up to 30kg (4.7 stones) a year, the British Journal of Sports Medicine reported.

The workstation design is said to enable users to walk, stand or sit and work. Fifteen obese volunteers burned an average of 191 calories an hour using the treadmill, compared to 72 calories when sitting at a desk.

One potential drawback is that the vertical workstations cost £1,000 each - that would buy an awful lot of doughnuts.

PA