THE postal dispute remained deadlocked last night as a fresh wave of strikes caused more disruption to the post – and there was a further threat of longer walkouts next month.

Thousands of members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) staged a 24-hour stoppage, manning picket lines outside mail centres across the UK in a row over jobs, pay and modernisation.

Further strikes will be held today and Saturday, and the leader of the union has warned the action will escalate unless there is a breakthrough.

The CWU’s postal executive held off naming new strike dates as efforts were made to resume peace talks that collapsed on Wednesday night.

CWU leader Billy Hayes said there was every prospect industrial action will be stepped up, while the union is still considering whether to take legal action over Royal Mail’s move to hire 30,000 agency workers to deal with the backlog of mail, as well as the Christmas rush.

Royal Mail managing director Mark Higson said he believed the two sides were close to a deal after marathon talks at the TUC on Wednesday.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We thought we had reached something that was very promising. We came in on Wednesday morning to face a new set of demands which we were in the process of responding to when they decided that the strikes were still on.”

Mr Higson said the sticking point to the dispute was resistance to modernisation in certain parts of the country, adding that agreement had been reached in many areas.

The Royal Mail was “very concerned” about the effect of the strikes on customers, but Mr Higson said disruption would be “limited”.

Royal Mail workers across the North-East were on the picket lines yesterday.

In Darlington, branch secretary Malcolm Preston said workers had taken strike action as a last resort. He said: “We don’t want to be on strike.

We feel like we have been left with no option because of the way senior managers are running the Royal Mail.

“We have seen them worsen the service.”

He said that although workloads had dropped by about ten per cent, the number of staff had been reduced by 30 per cent.

He said staff were no longer paid for overtime, forced to work longer shifts and faced with disciplinary action if they did not complete their rounds.

Other cuts in the service have included the number of post office branches closed or working on reduced hours, and the removal of Sunday collections.

Mr Preston added: “We understand there is a public reaction and that is why this action is not about pay.

“It is about working conditions and working practices.”

He said the public had been supportive of the action.