BURNLEY Post Office faces closure on Easter Saturday morning due to a pay dispute.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) is calling for 4,000 counter staff at all 373 Crown Post Offices to strike.

Post Office bosses have appealed for them to ignore the appeal for industrial action on Saturday March 30.

The Burnley Crown office in Hargreaves Street is normally open from 9am to 12.30pm on Saturdays.

CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: “With Post Office management refusing to negotiate, and with a huge vote in favour of strike action, we have had no choice.

“The patience and loyalty of our Post Office members has been abused by Post Office management.

“This dispute is about protecting jobs and services as well as securing a fair pay increase for our members.

“We’re saying to the public, if you value your post office, support these workers on Easter Saturday and beyond.”

Directly owned and managed Crown branches make up three per cent of the 11,800 post office network.

The remainder of the network will not be part of any strike action.

Kevin Gilliland, network director at the Post Office said: “The CWU is ignoring the harsh commercial realities being faced by the Post Office.

“Crown branches are currently losing £40million per year and this is being subsidised by public money. This cannot continue.”

Labour supporters in Burnley have been campaigning to prevent the Hargreaves Street office from being transferred to a private partner.

Former MP Peter Pike, Burnley Labour Party chairman, has called on his successor Gordon Birtwistle to sign a House of Commons’ early day motion, ‘protecting’ the Post Office from ‘unfair competition’.

Party members say a petition, opposing any changes to Burnley’s crown office, has attracted a number of signatures.