St Piran's holiday for employees

St Piran's Day is marked by a march across the dunes at Perranporth

A local council is giving its workers a holiday on 5 March for St Piran's Day.

Bodmin Town Council said all 22 of its full-time council staff would get an extra day off to commemorate the event.

Earlier this year North Cornwall MP Dan Rogerson asked the government to make 5 March a public holiday to celebrate Cornwall's unique heritage.

The council is thought to be the first to take up the idea for the patron saint of tin mining which was once a booming industry in the county.

Minimal cost

Cllr Philip Kerridge said there had been plenty of support for the holiday in Cornwall, which like the rest of Britain, had fewer public holidays than the rest of Europe.

"We even fall short of Northern Ireland which has days off for St Patrick's Day and the Battle of the Boyne.

"We've specifically asked to have the public holiday on St Piran's Day because if there's a special day, it's best to have it on that day.

"If it happens to fall at the weekend, there's no great problem moving the holiday to the Friday or the Monday, just like it happens at Christmas."

Mr Kerridge said the £13,000 cost of the day's work would not be passed on to council tax payers.

Every year hundreds of people walk across the dunes at Perranporth, many carrying the black and white Cornish flag to mark St Piran's feast day.

He is said to have come ashore at Perranporth in the 6th Century, having journeyed in a currach from Ireland.