More than 260 government workers in Chuzhou city, east China's Anhui province, were either given disciplinary warns or sacked for playing computer games or poker during office hours, according to a local newspaper report.

In a bid to improve government work efficiency, the local government since 2005 investigated 75 local governmental departments, institutions and organizations for slackness, said a local official quoted by Xin'an Evening News. The paper did not give the official's name.

Numerous government workers were found to be habitually late for work or would play cards and computer games during work time. They were given warnings or fired according to the severity of their slackness.

"Playing pokers or computer games, may seem by some officials as trivial, but it ruins the overall image of local government and should be prohibited," said the official with the Chuzhou City Work Efficiency Inspection Office.