Millions wasted in lost holiday pay

Close to one in three Britons (32 per cent) are not taking their full holiday entitlement each year, according to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Moreover, two fifths of those who do manage to book winter travel plans have to accept a different option to the one they planned due to last minute bookings, research from RBS Royalties Premier Account has found.

Excessive workload was the main reason for this lack of holiday planning and was cited by 28 per cent of the respondents to the poll.

"It is a sad state of affairs that simple lack of planning is resulting in so much unused annual leave, especially around this time of year when families want to spend time with their loved ones," said Allan Hardie from RBS Royalties Premier Account.

"Of course our lives are so busy and we live in a 24-hour society but this means it's all the more important to make sure we use our holiday wisely."

These trends have been supported by the 2003 New Earnings Survey from the National Office of Statistics, revealing that Britons worked some of the longest hours in Europe, averaging near 40 hours per week.

Two-thirds of respondents to the RBS survey blamed working long hours for a lack of holiday planning, in addition to having overly busy schedules.

In the UK at large a third of people were found to have not taken their full annual leave this year, with 78 per cent blaming long hours.

Recent reports indicate that a growing proportion of UK workers are opting for flexible and remote working, but a number of factors remain that prevent businesses from fully adopting these practices.