Time off? Bah, humbug! Four in 10 of us work until New Year

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As many as four out of ten Britons will be working between today and the New Year, according to a Post Office survey.

Some say they have too much work to do to take time off, while others have simply missed out to colleagues in the race to put themselves down for annual leave over Christmas.

A hard-working handful said they liked their jobs so much that they preferred to be in the office rather than at home with their loved ones.

The survey of 2,042 adults revealed that workers in the advertising, marketing and public relations sectors were least likely to be working over the festive season. It also found that 37 per cent of all workers have not taken their full annual holiday entitlement in 2007, which is equivalent to 1.3billion lost days off.

Men seemed to be more committed to their jobs - or possibly just less organised - as they were worse than women at getting their fair share of time off during the year.

In geographical terms, those living in East Anglia were least likely to take their full holiday entitlement, while those in Lancashire were most likely.

Post Office spokesman Helen Warburton, said: 'We were surprised to discover that so many people will be at work during the festive period - particularly when we have seen healthy sales of foreign currency, which suggests more people are heading abroad.

'It's also worrying to learn that so many people are not using up their holiday entitlement for the year.'