Two major high street retailers have announced they will close their shops on Boxing day to give staff 'a well-earned rest'.

Despite being just days into October, Iceland and Home Bargains have already confirmed with shoppers their Christmas opening times.

Last year a number shops and supermarkets remained shut on Boxing Day to give employees additional time-off after two years of disruption and additional work caused by the pandemic.

It was a move welcomed by Usdaw, the union for shop and distribution staff, which had been campaigning for retailers to give their staff 'the longest possible break over the festive season to provide them with a well-deserved breather'.

Among those to have kept all or the majority of branches closed on December 26 last year were Aldi, John Lewis, Lidl, Pets at Home, Homebase, The Entertainer and Morrisons.

Christmas Day this year falls on a Sunday, making Boxing Day Monday, December 26 and Tuesday, December 27 a Christmas bank holiday.

In a tweet Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland, confirmed that all Iceland supermarkets and Food Warehouse stores would be shut on December 26 this year.

He wrote: "We'll be closing all our Iceland and Food Warehouse stores on Boxing Day to give our colleagues a well-earned rest with their friends and families."

Home Bargains, which has stores across Kent, said in a message on its Facebook page, which is followed by almost 1.5 million people, that it too was shutting on Boxing Day and again on New Years Day.

The company wrote: "We would like to thank all our staff for how hard you have worked this past year and want you to relax and enjoy the Christmas break with your loved ones."

Thousands of shoppers have welcomed the announcement, with many suggesting every shop should be made to do the same.

Mandy Hill commented: "Well done! Christmas seemed more exciting when we were kids. When the shops closed that signalled the start of Christmas. Dad was off work a few days so everyone at home. Proper family time.

"More the spirit of Christmas than commercialism. If you hadn't bought it by Christmas Eve then you didn't have it."

While there are still more than two months to go until Christmas Day, plans for the festive season appear to be gathering pace, with shoppers expected to be more keen this year to spread the cost of Christmas around other high bills and constantly rising outgoings.

M&S has opened bookings for its Christmas food service, Asda has unveiled many of its festive ranges which have now started to arrive in stores while last month Argos released its predictions for the most popular toys.

John Lewis has also launched a number of initiatives to help its customers spread the costs of Christmas including temporarily removing the minimum spend threshold for click and collect orders and extending its seasonal returns window.

This means those wishing to make a start on their Christmas shopping can exchange or return goods purchased after the end of September right up until January 28 - the first time the department store has ever made such an offer in September.