The government has responded to a 120,000-strong petition calling for an annual national bank holiday to mark the death of the Queen.

Downing Street has rejected calls for the annual national holiday as the nation prepares for the Her late Majesty’s funeral.

The campaign was launched by John Harris and has been backed by more than 100,000 people in the UK calling for September 8 to become an annual bank holiday.

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Explaining his reasons, Mr Harris said:  "Queen Elizabeth II is our longest reigning Monarch, and arguably the Nations, and the World’s most popular ever Monarch. In the words of President Macron, 'to you, she was your Queen, to us, she was the Queen…The most constant symbol of Great Britain'.

"She was indeed, an inspirational woman." Spelling out the reasons to make September 8 - the day she died - a bank holiday, Mr Harris added: "Britain has fewer bank holidays than most European countries; France has 11 compared with our 8, Spain has 14.

"I believe we need a new public bank holiday to mark our greatest Sovereign’s lifetime; a Queen Elizabeth Day." He signed off with: "A day for our Nation to come together and celebrate both the life of the Queen, and our gratitude for the institution of our Royal Family."

Although hopes of an annual bank holiday to remember the Queen seem short-lived after No.10 refused.

A spokesperson for No10 said: "The government wants to consider the best way to memorialise the queen. That's something we will consider not just on our own but obviously in conjunction with the royal family and others."