Guernsey Liberation Day bank holiday rejected

Fortifications from the occupation remain dotted around the island's coast

Calls for an extra bank holiday because the 70th anniversary of Liberation Day falls on a Saturday have been rejected.

On 9 May 1945 the island was freed from five years of German occupation and in recent years the day of the anniversary has been a public holiday.

In 2015 the Saturday has been designated a public holiday, but seven deputies called for Friday to also be an official day off.

However, this move was heavily defeated by their fellow politicians.

The proposition had also suggested the May Day bank holiday on 4 May was removed so employers did not lose an extra working day.

The proposals included introducing an extra weekday public holiday whenever Liberation Day falls on a weekend in the future - this plan was lost by a drawn vote of 20-20.

Molly Bihet said during the occupation you were never sure what the next day would bring

An alternative proposal with the same aim was also lost.

A separate move to introduce Sunday trading laws, which limit what shops can open and what can be sold, on Liberation Day was also defeated.

Molly Bihet, an author who was 14 years old when the island was liberated, said it was a shame.

She said of Liberation Day: "You've got to live through it to really realise how happy we were and what a day it was.

"Everybody was so happy, my mum she sang and shouted so much that she lost her voice for weeks after."