Supermarket giant Asda has announced plans to give new grandparents extra time off work.

Older workers will be entitled to an immediate seven-day break following the birth of a grandchild.

The impromptu holiday can then be followed up at any time with three months extended leave so they can help their family following a new arrival.

Although both time-off packages will be unpaid, Asda claims it is leading the way in flexible working practices.

The company said it decided to review its policies after noticing many of its 14,000 workers over 50 were forced to take annual leave following the birth of a grandchild.

The company, which currently allows parents to stop working for a short period during the school summer holidays in addition to usual paid holidays, claims it has a strong record in staff relations after introducing several ground-breaking schemes, including half-days off for parents on a child's first day at school.

Marie Gill, head of colleague relations, said: "We're looking for ways to help colleagues balance the commitments of home and work.

"We recognise many of them are grandparents and, as such, have childcare responsibilities. Whether it's when there's a new arrival or during the summer holidays, grandparents are often on hand to help and we want to give our colleagues the flexibility to be able to do that."

Equal Opportunities minister Margaret Hodge welcomed the initiative, saying: "Asda has hit upon another great idea to help them compete in the jobs market.

"Grandparents can feel torn between work they enjoy and being there for their children and grandchildren. This scheme will help grandparents to have it all.

"This is just the sort of win-win-win approach we're promoting in our Work-Life Balance Campaign - good for business, good for staff and good for communities."