FRESH talks aimed at resolving the bitter postal workers' dispute are to be held on Monday following an intervention by the TUC, it was announced today.

The union organisation said that the Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union had accepted an invitation from general secretary Brendan Barber.

It was disclosed that both sides had been in touch with the TUC in recent days seeking help in breaking the deadlocked row over jobs, pay and modernisation which led to two 24-hour strikes last week and threatened further walkouts next week.

The TUC said in a statement: "Royal Mail and the CWU have in recent days been in contact with the TUC over the current dispute and have sought the TUC's assistance in resolving any outstanding issues.

"As a result, both Royal Mail and the CWU have accepted an invitation from TUC general secretary Brendan Barber to talks on Monday."

Mr Barber was heavily involved in negotiating a deal which ended the last national postal dispute two years ago.

The news came as postal workers started tackling a huge backlog of mail caused by last week's strikes.

A spokesman for the CWU said: "The CWU has been calling for talks and is pleased that Royal Mail has now agreed to return to negotiations.

"The TUC played a key role in 2007 in resolving issues between the two parties and we hope they will help to resolve the dispute this time.

"We understand that the Royal Mail's managing director will be part of the team coming to the TUC.

"That is in line with our call for a senior team to become involved and that is welcome.

"We remain available to talk at any time and are determined to find an agreement."

The Royal Mail said earlier today that workers had started to tackle the huge backlog of 30 million letters caused by the strikes.

The union is threatening to hold three further strikes from next Thursday but today's announcement now raises hopes of a breakthrough in the long-running row.

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier said: "I have had a number of conversations with Brendan Barber over the last few days and I'm very pleased we seem to have found a sensible and positive way forward."