WORKERS at Pierce Chartered Accountants in Blackburn are making it to work on time without even leaving their house.

The firm has launched a new scheme which allows staff to choose their own working hours and location.

Employees can work any hours they want, usually from home, keeping in touch with the office via e-mail and mobile phones, which must be switched on between 8pm and 6pm.

So far 15 of the 70 workers at the Richmond Terrace-based company have taken up the scheme and more are expected to follow.

Working mum Karyn Savage (pictured), an accounts clerk, is already reaping the benefits of the scheme.

Working from her kitchen table at her home on Lynwood Avenue, Darwen, Karyn, 24, said: "It's really beneficial.

"If Lauren, my daughter is poorly I can work from home and I don't have to use up my holidays.

"We can link up with the main computer at work through a telephone link, so I can access the information I could do while at work.

"It's basically like being at work -but I'm here, at home."

Karyn is planning another baby this year and the flexible system will allow her to return to her 'desk' much quicker.

She said: "With Lauren I had quite a lot of time off, but next time I expect to be back much sooner."

Ingrid Atherton, a manger with the firm, is another to experience flexible working.

She said: "The scheme allows me to pack a lot more productive work into a day and it lets me choose exactly how I structure my time.

"It certainly allows me to adapt my work to fit my lifestyle, rather than the other way round."

The idea was the brainchild of managing partner Paul Warren.

He said: "The idea is that people participating in the scheme will be able to achieve much more in a day if they have a quiet uninterrupted place to work.

"Some members of the firm have felt guilty about working from home, even if they have achieved much more than they would have done in a pressurised office environment.

"However, most feel trusted and find the whole experience positive and motivating."

Initially there were concerns that people might abuse their position, but Mr Warren said that has not happened.

"There was always the danger of abuse, which thankfully has not been an issue, nor has the possibility that people would feel left out of what was going on in the office," he said.

"It will allow the firm to taken on more capacity which will in turn fund the firm's growth, particularly our IT capability. We are also looking at additional new ways to motivate staff."