FAMILIES and businesses were warned to expect further disruption to their mail deliveries today as postal workers continue to strike – and unions prepare for more action next week.

Hundreds of delivery staff were due to man picket lines across Stoke-on-Trent from 4am today in the last of three 24-hour walkouts this week.

Yesterday, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) served Royal Mail with notice of further walkouts on Friday, November 6, and Monday, November 9.

The move came after mediators said both sides would be considering proposals designed to end the "high-pressure dispute" over the weekend, with further talks planned next week.

The row over jobs, pay and changes to working practices has already caused a backlog of 30 million letters and the strikers are hoping their actions will bring a sense of urgency to the talks.

Malcolm Brundrett, CWU area delivery representative, said: "We are not convinced Royal Mail is interested in bringing this to an end. It has made it clear it does not want anymore national agreements.

"We cannot rule out further action. As it stands 11 delivery offices around Stoke-on-Trent are out on strike.

"Every time we get close to agreement, Royal Mail goes away and someone pulls the plug.

"I believe it is more interested in making the dispute drag, believing our members will lose the appetite for industrial action."

Hopes of averting this week's strike action collapsed on Wednesday, despite three days of talks between the two sides.

Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, said: "We will be upping the dispute. We won't be scaling it down."

Data entry staff at the Festival Park manual data entry centre started their strike at 5pm yesterday, to cause the biggest knock-on impact on the weekend's operations.

They fear their jobs processing mail which cannot be read by machines, could be under threat.

Jon Nihill, aged 28, from Stoke, has worked at the centre, which employs about 150 permanent staff plus an extra 500 temporary workers at Christmas, for four years.

He said: "Under the modernisation, new computer systems could put us out of work.

"We want to know Royal Mail will communicate with us before this happens, rather than just doing what it has done in other areas – making redundancies or making workers travel for hours to different centres."

Mark Higson, Royal Mail managing director, said resistance to modernisation in certain parts of the country is the sticking point in the talks and Royal Mail is concerned about the disruption.

He said: "Thanks to the efforts of all our people who continue to work, to the dedication of managers and the help of up to 30,000 fully vetted temporary workers engaged by Royal Mail, we will be able to limit the effect of the current strikes and expect to get any delayed mail to our customers by early next week."

Up to 120,000 CWU members are expected to walk out from 3am on both strikes due to start next Friday.