Almost a million people are working on Christmas Day, according to a survey published on Monday.

Even more are working on New Year's Day, the latest research from the Labour Force Survey suggests.

The best employers give their staff two weeks paid leave at Christmas TUC general secretary elect Brendan Barber

And more than three million workers with those days off will receive no holiday pay.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is asking the government to introduce three new bank holidays to bring Britain up to the European Union average.

And it wants people who work bank holidays to be offered double pay or time off in lieu.

Britain currently languishes at second from bottom in the European bank holiday league with just eight - half the number there are in Italy.

Loophole

And it is the only EU country to allow employers to count bank holidays as part of the four weeks' minimum paid annual leave.

TUC general secretary elect Brendan Barber is asking the government to close that loophole and "make the UK a better place to work".

He wants people working bank holidays to be "fairly rewarded".

"The best employers give their staff two weeks paid leave at Christmas," Mr Barber said.