BRITAIN: Hopes of a breakthrough in the British postal workers' dispute faded last night as union leaders and managers struggled to resolve a row which has crippled mail deliveries.
A marathon day of talks failed to produce a solution. A backlog of millions of items of mail continued to mount, forcing the Royal Mail to seal post-boxes in London.
More than 20,000 postmen and women remained on unofficial strike across the capital and in parts of Essex, the north west, Hampshire, the midlands and Home Counties.
Communication Workers' Union leaders and Royal Mail managers met for almost 12 hours on Saturday and again for several hours yesterday but optimism that a settlement could be reached was dashed. Direct talks between the company's chief executive, Mr Adam Crozier, and the union's deputy general secretary, Mr Dave Ward, made little progress and the two sides are to continue talks tomorrow.