Masquerading as members of the public, some of the authority's 6,000-strong workforce volunteered to call their associates at Bayard Place-based Peterborough Direct to run the rule over the responses of customer services staff to real-life situations.

Volunteers tested employees with questions about what could happen to the Brewery Tap pub, where planning applications can be inspected and the opening hours of Dogsthorpe tip.

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Customers services staff were then judged on a range of criteria, including the speed that the enquiry was answered, if the staff member used the correct council "corporate greeting" and the overall clarity of the call.

Meanwhile, mystery shoppers were used to check up on the people manning the authority's benefits and council tax lines, while volunteers also visited Peterborough Direct for face-to-face meetings.

Council bosses say the pilot was so successful that it will become a permanent part of the council's drive to improve its standards of customer service.

Far from feeling uncomfortable about scrutinising their colleagues, staff are reported to have embraced the experience.

The council's head of customer services Mark Sandhu said: "The staff who undertook the mystery shopper pilot found it an enjoyable opportunity.

"Our staff felt it useful to work in other areas."

Cabinet member for customer focus and communications Cllr Matthew Dalton added: "Mystery shopping is used quite widely throughout the private and public sector to make sure organisations are performing as they should be.

"It is something as a council that we should be looking at."

And a report presented to cabinet on the scheme said: "It is believed that sufficient volunteers from services will be forthcoming to make internal mystery shopping viable.

"Feedback from those involved (in the pilot) has been positive both in terms of enjoying the variety of work and the feeling that they were contributing to identifying potential service improvements for another part of the council."

The cabinet agreed to introduce a mystery shopper scheme following the findings of a cross-party scrutiny review group, made up of Cllrs Chris Ash, Steve Lane and Nick Sandford.

They decided that using council employees was the most cost-effective way to carry out mystery shopping because a one-off mystery shop provided by an external company would cost £6,300.

The introduction of the scheme comes two years after Peterborough City Council introduced a similar mystery shopper scheme on authority-supported bus services.