Shhh! We're Dunedin City Council staff

The latest copy of the Dunedin City Council's internal letter warns staff to be careful about who might be listening to work conversations in public settings. Photo / Thinkstock

Dunedin City Council staff have been warned against spilling the beans while slurping their morning coffees.

The latest edition of the council's Staffzone internal newsletter included a short piece warning staff to be wary of who might be listening to their conversations in central-city cafes.

A copy was sent anonymously to the Otago Daily Times.

It included an article entitled "Spy vs spy", which encouraged staff chatting about their work in cafes to "have a look around".

"You'd be surprised by the number of people who sit in cafes, listening. A lot of us are easily recognised as DCC staff and there are people who find our topics of conversation fascinating ... and useful ..."

The article noted "interesting snippets of information" were appearing in media, blogs and magazines, and urged staff wanting to talk about work to consider using the council's in-house cafeteria.

The reminder came after it was confirmed last year council staff, using ratepayer-funded council credit cards, had spent $7000 while holding questionable staff meetings in central-city cafes.