An extra bank holiday would be good for the economy and would help people improve their work-life balance, a Labour MP has said.

Presenting her ten minute rule motion on an Autumn Bank Holiday Bill in the Commons on Tuesday, Shona McIsaac called for a national consultation on when to hold an extra public holiday.

Currently there are eight public holidays a year, and McIsaac praised the government fo introducing minimum holiday entitlements but said that "Europe is far better" than Britain when it comes to public holidays.

"After we go past the August bank holiday it's getting darker, the weather is probably getting worse and it's no wonder the average British worker looks frazzled and miserable come the beginning of December," she said.

The Cleethorpes MP argued that working life "has changed beyond all recognition" since the last bank holiday was introduced in 1978, with people spending more time at work and travelling for longer to get there.

"Our public holidays simply have not kept pace with modern working life," she told MPs.

Claiming there was "a lot of support" for a new public holiday in the autumn, she pointed out that the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and the TUC were among the organisations backing the call.

"But there is, as always, opposition," she said. "The misery guts that want to keep us at work and never let us break free."

The CBI say the move could reduce productivity, but McIsaac said it "would have economic benefits for this country", especially for places which relied on tourism.

"A less frazzled work force will be more productive not less," she said. "I believe that breaks from work will reduce stress, you can recharge your batteries, it will help work-life balance.

"Modern life often leaves us feeling under pressure and unable to wind down. Well-placed public holidays can punctuate the year to give us better work-life balance and that would be good for everybody in this country."

However, Conservative MP for Christchurch Christopher Chope said he was "disappointed at the way in which this has been put forward".

"Bank holidays should be used in my view to mark special days of religious observance or national celebration," he argued.

And dismissing "the prospect of having an extra day off work at someone else's expense", he said it would result in "significant additional cost both to the public and the private sector".

"In my submission bank holidays smack of collectivism and central control," argued Chope.