Strike action could disrupt post office services in Leeds this weekend

A 24-hour strike has been called for Saturday at six branches in the city as part of a national dispute over pensions, jobs and closures.

Today, however, the Post Office said it was too early to say how services at the branches might be affected.

It also said all of its other branches in the city would be operating as normal.

The sites in Leeds where strike action has been called are Austhorpe Road in Crossgates, Headingley’s Arndale Centre, Queen Street in Morley, Church Lane in Pudsey and, in the city centre, Albion Street and New York Street.

Other branches earmarked for strikes in West Yorkshire include Towngate in Ossett and Ropergate in Pontefract.

Saturday’s stoppages will involve members of the Communication Workers Union and Unite.

Post Office network and sales director Kevin Gilliland said: “We want to reassure people that almost all of our network will be open and operating normally.

“Action affects fewer than 300 of our branches, and many of these will be open to maintain services for customers preparing for Christmas.

“It will also be business as usual in the rest of our network – over 97 per cent of branches will be operating their usual Saturday service.

“Instead of trying to unnecessarily alarm customers during the festive season, we want the unions to join us in talks to discuss our strategy.

“Their members work very hard to give our customers the best possible service in the run-up to Christmas, this action can only cause concern to customers.”