AS work spaces go, it's a little on the compact size. In fact, thousands of people who drive along the Ipswich waterfront each day must have wondered whether Nigel Revels' office is the smallest in the country.

AS work spaces go, it's a little on the compact size.

In fact, thousands of people who drive along the Ipswich waterfront each day must have wondered whether Nigel Revels' office is the smallest in the country.

Measuring one metre wide and just over half a metre deep, there is no room for filing cabinets or a computer - although he does have the tiniest of desks.

And at the end of each day, he has to pick up his humble office and move it back securely inside the gates of the building site where he works.

Mr Revels, 43, is involved in the project to construct what will be one of East Anglia's tallest buildings at 23 storeys.

He has worked at the Cranfield Mill site, on College Street, for developer Laing O'Rourke since August and gets a fair amount of attention from his roadside look-out post.

He said: “It must be the smallest gate hut in the country.

“You cannot get any smaller or you would not be able to fit in it. It is my office at the end of the day. It was originally out the back but then we decided to put it out here.

“People coming past are always looking at me smiling, waving saying how are you? I always wave at people round here as that is the sort of guy I am. And I get to talk to a lot of people at the site as they come past. It is a job and I enjoy it.”

Standing at 1.95m at its highest point it's a bit of a squeeze, but he manages to personalise his space with an England flag and a picture that some students took of him on the road.

His job is to stop the traffic on Key Street as delivery lorries arrive and leave, as well as logging their details.

Mr Revels said: “I deal with roughly 30 vehicles a day, mainly concrete lorries and I sign delivery notes for them and have to log them but I go to another office to do my paperwork.

“I put the flag up as you have got to keep the flag flying. I am very patriotic.”

He added: “If it rains I have to shut the door so it does not come through. It is portable and we move it in and out each day. It takes two people to carry it.”

Manning the site entrance from 7am through to 6pm every week day, Mr Revel, who lives in Peterborough, is relieved by another worker to take his two half-an-hour breaks a day.