Male staff at accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers have been left red-faced after emails in which they rated the attractiveness of their female colleagues went viral.

The emails, sent between male staff at the firm’s Dublin offices, were forwarded to other offices around the UK and Ireland, before going viral across the internet.

The emails included images of 13 women who had recently joined the company as trainee accountants.

It is believed that she source of the original email, entitled ‘this would be my shortlist for the top 10’, has been traced.

The firm’s human resources department is launching an investigation into the matter.