Unofficial strike at post office

Postal deliveries were threatened with disruption in Merseyside after hundreds of workers refused to a cross picket line at Copperas Hill sorting office.

About 400 postal workers in Liverpool refused to cross the picket lines mounted by maintenance engineers.

Employees of Romec, who maintain Royal Mail sites across the country, are in dispute over proposed changes to working conditions.

The action came days after closure plans were announced for the facility.

The Royal Mail confirmed that the sorting office would close by 2010 when its work would be moved to Warrington in Cheshire.

'Remains deadlocked'

Across the country, more than 800 engineering staff belonging to the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have been staging a one-day strike in a row over attendance patterns.

Ray Ellis, the assistant secretary of the CWU, said the proposals - including scrapping current travel-to-work arrangements - would significantly increase the working week.

The workers held a strike last month and a number of meetings have been held at the conciliation service Acas, but the dispute remains deadlocked.