BURNLEY'S postal service could be thrown into chaos this week if sorting office staff walk out in the first of three planned 24-hour strikes.

But the Communication Workers Union (CWU) today said it was hopeful a resolution could be reached with the management.

Around 180 employees will take to the picket line at 1.30pm on Friday over changes in working practices, which they claim are causing a backlog of mail.

Two further strikes are planned for Friday, January 23, and Monday, January 26.

CWU divisional representative, Tony Williams, said management imposed 23 changes to working practices before Christmas without consulting the union.

They included amendments to overtime rules and the removal of the second delivery in Burnley, which means postmen take out all the day's mail in the morning and deliver as much as they can during the day.

This has led to mail being left undelivered or being delivered by casual staff.

Industrial action is not affecting any other sorting offices because, as well as disputing changes being made nationally to the postal services, the union is concerned about minor changes made to the way the Burnley office works.

Mr Williams said: "These were imposed on the office without any negotiation with the union. The only way we could counteract that move was to ballot our members for strike action. The management left us with no other choice and staff voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action."

But he added talks were still going on to prevent the walk-out, which will affect collections and deliveries across Burnley's BB10, BB11 and BB12 postal districts.

He added: "Talks are being held this week and all of our efforts are centred on avoiding the need to strike.

"We are not saying there should not be any changes, we accept that there are going to be fundamental changes across the industry. But we want the opportunity to discuss those with management."

Staff will meet with union representatives on Thursday to agree whether the action should go ahead. A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "We have been notified that they propose to take official strike action. At this stage Royal Mail is doing all it can to avert that and is urging staff to continue to work."