Hopes up to avert railway strike

The strike was planned to start on 20 January

Hopes of averting a 48-hour strike by hundreds of rail guards at First Great Western (FGW) have been raised after talks between the company and a union.

Guards at the rail operator, which runs services from Paddington to the West and south-west of England and Wales, had planned to strike from 20 January.

But the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said talks had been positive and progress made.

Its executive will meet later to decide whether the strike should go ahead.

It had previously said relations had broken down over issues such as managers driving and guarding trains.

FGW runs services from London's Paddington Station to the West Country, south-west of England and Wales.

The company admitted it did use managers to crew trains on a Sunday as a "last resort" as FGW was a commercial operation working seven days a week, but that it would never compromise safety.