HOPES of averting a fresh wave of postal strikes appeared to be collapsing tonight despite three days of intensive talks.

Preparations for a series of strikes from tomorrow morning were going ahead, threatening further disruption to mail deliveries.

Leaders of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) spent the last three days locked in negotiations with Royal Mail bosses to try to head off the new strikes.

Dave Ward, the union's deputy general secretary, briefed the CWU executive on the talks today and later resumed dialogue with Royal Mail management.

But it seems that despite the negotiations, the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and modernisation remained deadlocked.

Up to 120,000 postal workers staged two 24-hour strikes last week which delayed more than 30 million items of mail.

That figure was reduced to two million today but there will be huge disruption caused by the new strikes.