Need? If they want to open it is up to them. There are plenty of people who have to work over the Christmas period and it is not just emergency workers. Call centre workers, security, IT Tech workers...

my post was referring to Boxing Day and retail workers. You have chosen to expand it to the Christmas period.

But it still applies doesn't it? Many people in different professions work on Boxing Day.

The petition to ban shops from opening on boxing Day is to be debated in Parliament apparently.

We usually go to his folks' but I'd love to stay home and just relax and eat and watch films and attempt to build the kids' new stuff but get in a temper and shout at husband to fix the mess I've made of it.

Endless washing up , recovering and eating even more.

go into town to see the hunt go off, then we have a fancy dress pram race through town. Which is a lot of fun for some, and not for others ha ha. Then we go to the pub for several hours, bliss!

As others have said, it's basically a repeat of Christmas Day - though we don't have presents obviously.

The family go to my mum's and she cooks a roast dinner - which is always pork. Does anyone else always have pork on Boxing Day?! The fact we've had a turkey roast the day before makes no difference. We even have crackers and put the party hats on, too.

We've pretty much always done that because our family follows routines where my grandma will go to my uncle's on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day, then come to us on the other day (it rotates each year). Then if my sister and her family spent Christmas Day with her in laws, they'll come to us on Boxing Day, etc.

I think it's a nice tradition and it makes Christmas last that little bit longer.

Normally it would be going to the football (if Peterborough were at home).

Although it's unknown this year, as I'm going to be in Spain at the time.

Boxing Day in our household can pretty much be described as a more laid back version of Christmas Day. It is one of the few days in the year on which I get to have a well deserved lie in, which is nice. Tend to get up between 9a.m - 10a.m, which for me, is a long lie in!

We cook the full Christmas dinner for a 2nd day, complete with all the trimmings, starters, desserts, fancy table settings, Christmas crackers & so on....but it's all just done at a more leisurely pace, whilst munching through Quality Street & Roses (the Strawberry & Orange Cremes are my favourite )

As with Christmas Day I like to spend the day chilling out on the sofa watching TV with good food(though not non-stop eating!). Though this year as with Christmas Day during the daytime, there's practically nothing any good on the TV worth watching! So will be devising a schedule of my own comprising of a mix of TV series and films on DVD.

Drink off the hangover, eat turkey sandwiches and open up that one present in the impenetrable plastic wrapping that's just been sat around.

I'm another one who does a repeat of Christmas, dependng on the year. My half brother spends Christmas day with our Mum then Boxing day with his dad, them visa versa the following year. Over the last few years we've got into the routine of whichever day we have my brother is Christmas with the presents and everything then the other day is spent at mine and I do a Christmas dinner. I've got Boxing day this year and I gave the family the option of me doing something different (like a buffet or something) but they love my roasts so turkey it is

I usually recover from spending an entire day with the family by catching up on some tv in the morning and then going round friends to watch the boxing day racing with a few bets. In the past i've popped back round the parents in the evening for dinner but i'm not sure we're doing that this year.

I might go to the football this year for a change though.

Boxing Day used to be an almost exact replica of Christmas Day - but with my husbands family instead of mine. I loved it. Unfortunately that stopped many years ago as my in laws moved.

Now Boxing Day is spent eating turkey sandwiches, eating chocolate, drinking the booze Santa bought .... and watching rubbish on the telly. I can't wait.

Normally get Squiffy!!!!!!

9am Buck's Fizz generally gets the mood going again

Eat and drink what I didn't manage to stuff into my face the day before

Driving up to me Muvvers on Boxing Day

Boxing Day is a day off, so people can recover from the big meals, and probably a hang-over as well