Union demands new bank holiday between August and Christmas

The government has been urged to create a new public holiday before Christmas to help people cope with the "intense" pressures of the world of work.

Workers will have to wait until Christmas for the next bank holiday after today, a four-month gap which the TUC said should be filled with a new statutory day off.

The union said workers in Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland and Cyprus are entitled to 15 bank holidays a year, almost twice as many as in the UK.

General secretary Frances O'Grady said: "As new technology changes our economy, the benefits should be shared by working people. That means less time at work, more time with family and friends, and decent pay for everyone.

"But, instead, work is becoming more intense. Workers in Britain put in millions of hours of unpaid overtime every year but get fewer public holidays than their counterparts across Europe.

"Working people deserve a break and, as the days start to get shorter, we could all do with something to look forward to. The government should create a new public holiday between now and Christmas."

A business department spokesman said: "We regularly receive requests for additional bank and public holidays to commemorate a variety of occasions - such as cultural, history, military and religious events - and we consider them on a case-by-case basis.

"We have no current plans to add to the well-established and acknowledged bank holidays already in place, but next year's early May bank holiday will be on May 8 to ensure as many people as possible can mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day."

Additional reporting by PA.

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