NORTHWICH'S postmen went on strike last Wednesday in a bid to get their bosses to listen to their grievances.

More than 100 workers at the town's sorting office stood outside the office gates to protest about their working conditions.

Steve Gough, the Communications Workers Union branch secretary for Cheshire, told the Guardian that strikes could take place in the New Year.

But the postmen decided to take action earlier than expected with the unannounced strike.

They say problems have been caused by the single daily delivery system that was put in place this year. Some postmen say they have had to do five-hour deliveries and feel they had no chance of reaching their £300 a week pay target.

Morale has also been hit by criticism from the public about the late arrival of the post since the new system began.

Cheshire County Council has called for action to be taken to improve the service in the region.

Graham Clark, Northwich's CWU representative, apologised for any inconvenience they had caused by striking but said their other option had been to strike on December 23, which would have caused much greater disruption.

He said: "We don't want this to be an ongoing thing. Management and staff are trying to work together to resolve the issues.

"We took action because meetings kept being put off and deadlines were being moved. We wanted to resolve the problems as soon as possible.

"Bonus pay is still our main concern."

A spokesman for Royal Mail said striking was damaging for everyone concerned.

He said: "Unfortunately, some of our staff perhaps don't share that view. It was a relatively short strike but it did affect our service that day.

"Staff have had an opportunity to get their bonus but nobody gets paid a bonus for not doing what was required to earn that bonus.

"Many delivery offices have achieved their targets. Northwich obviously hasn't, so it hasn't earned its bonus."

rbabington@guardiangrp.co.uk