City sorting office is to close

The Liverpool action arose out of a dispute over shift patterns

Royal Mail has confirmed the closure of its Liverpool sorting office which currently employs 600 people.

Work is being transferred to a new regional centre in Warrington.

Royal Mail said workers at the Copperas Hill site would be offered posts in Warrington but unions have raised concerns about part-time staff.

Royal Mail announced its £51m regional plans at the start of August and said Copperas Hill was no longer viable in the face of falling mail volumes.

The regeneration company Liverpool Vision put forward an alternative plan for a new mail centre in the city but Royal Mail said it was too costly.

Although Royal Mail said it did not envisage compulsory redundancies, unions fear that many staff, particularly part-timers, will not be able to afford the travel costs to Warrington.