Falkirk Council staff will not get an additional public holiday to mark the start of the men’s World Cup finals, it has been confirmed.

Monday, June 15 has officially been confirmed as a national bank holiday by the Scottish Government.

The previous day, Scotland take on Haiti in Boston in the United States with a kick-off time of 2am in the UK.

However, at a meeting to set the council’s budget on Thursday, elected members agreed with officials’ recommendations not to grant the extra day.

Falkirk Council workers won't get a World Cup bank holiday. Pic: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

placeholder image — Falkirk Council workers won't get a World Cup bank holiday. Pic: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Members heard it would cost around £130,000 to provide cover for frontline services on the day, while the total cost of granting a full public holiday would be £260,000.

In a report to members, officers also highlighted that closing schools for an extra day would mean the council would fall below the statutory number of teaching days, which would need separate permission from the Scottish Government to approve.

The public holiday was proposed by First Minister John Swinney to mark Scotland playing in the finals for the first time since 1998 and was approved by King Charles.

However, several other local authorities have already taken the decision not to grant it, including the City of Edinburgh and Fife.