Over two thirds of Brits travelling on business have eavesdropped on someone else's confidential business conversation, and over a third have caught sight of sensitive information on laptops.

A survey of 1,000 UK and US mobile workers found that the rise of flexible working means that many people are battling to find sufficient privacy to conduct business.

Over 10 per cent of those catching snippets of information admitted that they have been able to use the data for their own business purposes.

Almost half of travelling UK professionals now spend at least half a day a week working in a public place, the report says.

Some find it so hard to find a place to work that one in six have resorted to working from toilets, over half in pubs and almost two thirds in busy restaurants.

"Many organisations just do not realise the staggering problems which their staff face when out on the road," said Kurt Mroncz, UK sales and marketing director at Regus, which conducted the survey.

"From a dangerous lack of privacy to difficult and absurd working environments, business travellers are often put in impossible positions as they try to carry out their professional role."

David Porter, head of security and risk at technology consultancy Detica, said: "These findings point to a significant vulnerability in British corporate security.

"The growing tide of professionals expected to work 'on the hoof' without proper support is putting the UK's prized corporate intellectual property, trade secrets and deals at risk."

Porter warned that people need to aware of slipping into a "casual security mindset" when using laptops, PDAs and social networking sites, and should be aware of those around them when dealing with sensitive information.

Hard-nosed City boys lived up to their reputation, as the survey found that Londoners are the most likely to exploit business information overheard in public.