Paris, July 8 (IANS) French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said his ministers should not go on summer vacation and instead work round the clock, according to a top official.

"He (Sarkozy) said ministers do not take holidays. Ministers are always responsible, 365 days a year. They can have rest but they are not on vacation," Xinhua quoted Budget Minister and government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse as saying.

Sarkozy made the remark amid rising criticism over ministers going on long vacations.

In February, former foreign minister Michele Alliot-Marie accepted an invitation from a Tunisian tycoon close to ex-president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, and spent a few days in Tunisia right before violent protests forced Ben Ali to quit.

She was later forced to resign due to mounting public indignation.

The French first couple, however, would spend the summer in the Correze and La Baule regions in middle and western France, the spokeswoman said.