REMEMBER the astounding levels of absenteeism among employees of Blackburn with Darwen Council that was running up a sick-pay bill of £4million a year, with the town hall's time-off tally among the worst in the country?

It amounted to more than 178 YEARS of working days lost last year alone. That works out at nearly a fortnight's absence on top of their holidays by each of the council's 5,000 employees and in some departments it was more than three weeks.

Now, it is revealed that almost half the sickness they suffered was down to stress -- and much of that, the council says, was due to "outside influences."

Well, one supposes they would say that, wouldn't they? After all, it helps to pass the blame if, following what now seems to be a trend among public employees, any of the stressed-out town hall sick-notes develop the complication of gimme-compensation.

Yet, how sure can they be that these amazing levels of stress-related illness among council workers are, in large part, due to off-the-job pressures?

After all, whatever their occupation, people are much the same outside work and are subject to similar same ups and downs in their personal lives.

How can there be something so peculiar about council employees that they wilt more than anyone else? They can't all be frazzled West Ham supporters surely.

But were we not given an intriguing clue as to the actual state of affairs when these astounding sickness rates were first disclosed?

I refer not to the accusation by Liberal-Democrat leader Paul Browne that some staff were skiving.

Rather it was the claim by Tory leader Colin Rigby which clearly supported that contention -- that sickness among employees of Capita, the private-sector business carrying out many services once done by the town hall, averages just half a day a year.

It is the fact that this has not been denied that suggests to me that it's the council being a soft touch that's at the root of the problem.

And that, as a result, too many staff are evidently suffering not from specious "outside influences," but going down with a debilitating, can't-get-out-of-bed condition that thrives in such a culture.

Namely, Geldof's Disease -- also known as "I Don't Like Mondays."