Xmas Day not a holiday for some

A new work-life balance survey has revealed that about one in ten Britons work on Christmas Day on a regular basis.

While employees based in Yorkshire were found to be the least likely to do so, those in the east Midlands were discovered to be the worst at keeping December 25th work-free, the poll by Clydesdale Bank indicated.

Furthermore, almost a quarter of UK workers have missed a child's birthday due to having to be in work, the research showed.

"It is acknowledged that the UK has a culture of working longer hours than virtually all of its European counterparts, but nonetheless it's astounding that so many business people still appear to miss what is traditionally one of the most important family holidays of the year," commented Mike Williams of Clydesdale Bank.

According to a study conducted by first direct earlier this year, over 17 million Britons were likely to have worked over the August bank holiday weekend.