A home store which has branches across west London will stay closed on Boxing Day so staff can "enjoy the festive break with their loved ones".

Home Bargains will stay shut on December 26 to give it's staff an extra day off over Christmas as a reward for their hard work throughout the year, bosses have said.

The national chain has branches in Hospital Road, Hounslow, and at the Great Western Industrial Park, in Armstrong Way, Southall.

The company has around 500 stores nationwide and employs 23,000 staff, as reported by Gloucestershire Live.

Tom Morris, founder and managing director of Home Bargains, says staff should be able to spend Boxing Day with family friends.

He said: “Christmas is a significant period in the retail calendar, and with staff across the business spending months building up to the occasion every year, we wanted to give them an opportunity to relax and truly enjoy the break with their loved ones.

"Home Bargains is a family-run business and we know the importance of being with loved ones at Christmas time.

"We also appreciate that our staff work tirelessly to keep over 500 of our stores running like clockwork, so giving everyone Boxing Day off is our way of saying thank you for their hard work and commitment.

"We look forward to welcoming shoppers back through our doors on Thursday, December 27.”

December 26 sales are tough on retail staff who often have to prepare the store on Christmas Eve and then come in early on Boxing Day.

But the day is seen as one of the busiest times for high street stores across the country, mainly down to the famous Boxing Day sales. Last year 17 million of us hit the shops to spend £4.5 billion on Boxing Day.

Retail watchers will be keeping an eye out on how many others remain shut when the big stores announce their Christmas opening hours for 2018.

At one time the Boxing Day sales provided a major boost as families escaped the house to spend their gift vouchers or swap unwanted presents.

But in recent years the queues of bargain hunters once seen outside the major stores have have shrunk amid the move to pre-Christmas sales such as cyber-Monday, Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day.

And for many younger people going on-line to bag a bargain has become part of the Christmas Day tradition, along with Boxing Day leisure pursuits such as runs, swims and walks.

Other stores have yet to announce their Christmas opening hours officially but many will be balancing up the pros and cons of opening after a troubled year.