Extra 2012 bank holiday for Queen's jubilee

British workers will get an extra bank holiday in 2012 to mark the Queen's diamond jubilee year, Peter Mandelson has confirmed to the House of Lords.

The May Day holiday will be moved to June 4, which is the Queen's official birthday and Tuesday, June 5, will also be made a one-off bank holiday.

The long weekend will see nationwide celebrations of Elizabeth II's 60 years on the throne. She will be the first monarch since Queen Victoria to achieve this and only the fourth in history - the others being Edward III who reigned from 1327 to 1377 and George III (1760 to 1820).

Detailed plans have yet to be announced affecting the Windsor area. But on her Golden Jubilee day in 2002 the Queen walked through Windsor, crossing the bridge into Eton before travelling by car to Slough.

Her last 'walkabout' in the town was on her 80th birthday in 2006 when she and the Duke of Edinburgh shook hands with people in the crowds that gathered outside the castle and along the High Street to congratulate her.