MANY workers in Worces-tershire are celebrating news that are to get eight extra days a year paid holidays.

Nearly six million people throughout Britain will be affected when bank holidays are added to their usual number of paid leave days rather than included.

The new regulations have increased the minimum holiday entitlement from 20 days to 28.

However, the new laws won't be fully enforced until April 2009, six months later than planned.

Four extra days will be made available to workers from October this year, but firms have argued for the remainder to be delayed delay so that they can prepare for the changes.

A representative from Herefordshire and Worces-tershire Chamber of Comm-erce said: "The Government is right to tackle the counting of bank holidays as annual leave. It is counter - productive of businesses to deprive their workers of holidays others get as a right."

However, not everybody is happy about the extra holidays, which the confeder-ation estimates will cost British industry about £4.4 billion. Small businesses will be among those hit hardest.

A spokesman at The Crusty Cob, in Malvern, said: "It will be a financial strain for independent businesses. And with the minimum wage going up in October, it's a double whammy."

Worcester MP Mike Foster said: "I'm proud of this Government for being on the side of hard-working people. It has also ensured that our most vulnerable workers have basic employment rights to protect them from unscrupulous employers.

This extra time off will make a real difference to the lives of hard-working people. We promised at the last election that we would do this."