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A senior MP has called for all shops to be closed on Boxing Day as Parliament prepares to debate a petition on the matter signed by more than 140,000 people.

Labour's Helen Jones, who chairs the Petitions Committee, said the current system of Boxing Day sales exploits lower paid workers and deprives them of time with their families over the festive period.

MPs will hold a Westminster Hall debate on the Government petition, which wants all retail shops to close the day after Christmas.

A separate petition campaigning for the same thing posted on Change.org also received more than 220,000 signatures.

The Government's response to the petition said it is not for them to tell businesses how best to run their shops and it is not proposing a ban.

But Ms Jones, who will lead Monday's debate, said evidence submitted to her committee's online forum has convinced her that the Government should take action.

She said: "I went from feeling quite indifferent about Boxing Day openings to believing it does exploit very low paid workers, who often have to work late on Christmas Eve to get the shops ready and then have to go in very early on Boxing Day morning."

Ms Jones said staff faced serious problems with public transport and childcare around Christmas, while additional pay for working these unseasonal hours had all but disappeared across the sector.

The Warrington North MP said: "No one died because a shop was shut, and I think we are exercising our freedom to shop whenever we want on the backs of some very low-paid workers, who are being exploited and being denied the freedom to expect to have the time with their families."

Almost 6,000 comments were submitted to the Petition Committee's online forum, the vast majority of which backed store closures.

Responding to the petition, the Government said: "We do not believe it is for central Government to tell businesses how to run their shops or how best to serve their customers.

"Therefore we are not proposing to ban shops from opening on Boxing Day."