A Lincolnshire shopping centre has received praise after announcing it will not be open on Boxing Day.

Hildreds in Skegness has revealed that it will be closed on December 26 meaning all staff can have the day off.

The day after Christmas is traditionally one of the biggest in the retail calendar with shoppers flocking every year to hunt bargains as the sales season gets underway.

However, this year Hildreds has announced it wants its staff to enjoy the day with their loved ones.

“We believe passionately that our staff deserve a Christmas break with their families,” a post on the shopping centre’s Facebook read.

“We would love to see you all back again on Thursday, December 27 but for us - Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day we will be spending with our families.”

And the move seems to have gone down well with many who shop there, who now want to see others do the same.

Hildreds Shopping Centre in Skegness has put on a unique event for Halloween
Hildreds Shopping Centre in Skegness

Susie Seaside posted: "Well done Hildreds Centre. I wish more retails would follow your lead."

Marilyn Foreman wrote: "Fantastic all retailers should do this everyone deserves to be with their families at Christmas."

Michelle Ranshaw commented: "Well done Hildreds Centre. All retailers should follow your lead

Danielle Hallsworth added: "Well done Hildreds Centre. I think that's great.

"All people should be able to enjoy Christmas with their families.

"Half the time nobody bothered to much as people work or live further away.

"So for all those hardworking people working in these shops in Hildreds they deserve a lovely break this Christmas."

It comes after a decision from Home Bargains that it too will be closed on Boxing Day.

The discount chain, which has stores in Lincoln, Grantham, Newark and Retford, has said all of its stores will be shut on December 26.

What does the law say about working on Boxing Day and can your boss make you work?

Unfortunately for workers, there is no legal right to time off, paid or unpaid, on public holidays like Boxing Day or even Christmas Day.

You only have the right to take such days off if it is in your employment contract, according to the government’s Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), reports Wales Online.

The employer is in charge of whether public holidays count as staff holiday.

Employers also have the right to choose when their staff use their annual leave - and can actually make their staff take Christmas off, although it will count as their holiday allocation.

The only law that ensures many shopworkers get Christmas Day itself off is the ban on Christmas Day trading for large shops over 280 square metres in size.

But smaller shops in England can open any day or hour they like - and there is no such law banning trading for large shops on Boxing Day.

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Should shops be closed on Boxing Day?