Britain is likely to see in the Millennium with a bumper Bank Holiday weekend, according to government sources. The Times newspaper reports that the Bank of England, business and community groups, and local government have also backed the idea.
Ministers are likely to confirm the holiday next month, according to reports.
If approved, the extra Bank Holiday would signal the start of a four-day Millennium weekend because as January 1 will be a Saturday, the traditional New Year's Day Holiday would come on the Monday. It would also mean that there would be just two working days between December 25 and January 4. He confirmed that the proposed December 31 break would be an extra Bank Holiday in 1999 and would not replace any existing Bank Holidays that year. According to the Times report, the only important figure to have opposed the holiday is Don Cruickshank, head of the Government's Millennium bug task force. He is reported to be concerned that the holiday could create more problems for businesses using computer systems affected by the bug.