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Postal staff in parts of Merseyside, Cheshire and West Lancs were today set to stand firm and refuse to deliver free copies of The Sun newspaper.

Staff at St Helens, Runcorn and Ellesmere Port and Neston yesterday joined their colleagues from Skelmersdale in taking a stand against delivering the newspaper through doors today and tomorrow.

Their meetings came as the postal workers in Skelmersdale claimed they had won their fight not to deliver it.

Millions of copies of the paper were due to be pushed through letterboxes across the UK as part of a World Cup promotional campaign.

But their plans were due to be thwarted by defiant posties enraged by the plans to post copies of the paper after its much-reviled coverage of the Hillsborough tragedy.

At 6.40am on Wednesday, around 100 postal workers at the Royal Mail’s St Helens branch held a meeting at the site’s gates.

There they unanimously voted not to deliver The Sun.

One worker told the ECHO: “They asked us what we felt and for a show of hands.

“Nearly everyone, even people who do not support Liverpool, are saying it shouldn't be delivered on Merseyside . . . we are refusing to deliver them on the grounds that it is The Sun.”

One staff member at St Helens is believed to have been at Hillsborough on the day of the tragedy.

In Runcorn, 80 workers held a similar meeting yesterday where they also agreed not to deliver the paper.

One postie, Tommy, said: “The plan had been for it to go into four areas – Brookvale/Palacefields, Windmill Hill, Murdishaw, and Sutton Park. That could be up to 2,000 homes. Any attempt to force any of the eight or nine staff to deliver it will result in a walk-out.

“There are a number of Hillsborough families in the Runcorn area.” Staff in St Helens and Runcorn were boosted after Royal Mail workers in Skelmersdale appeared to win their fight not to deliver the paper after CWU union officials held talks with management.

A source told the ECHO: “We have been given assurances there won’t be a delivery of it in Skem.

“We are obviously a bit cautious because we don’t always believe what the bosses say but it looks 99.9% certain that there won’t be a delivery in Skem now.

It would be worse if they backtracked now. “They wouldn't even have enough manpower to deliver it if they back-tracked. So it looks good at the moment.

“It makes us feel very proud – especially with the amount of coverage that it’s had. We all felt very passionate about it.”

Six out of the 50 staff were present at the 1989 tragedy and the workers were asked by many people in Skelmersdale not to deliver at their homes.

Many Skelmersdale residents knew people who died at Hillsborough and others who survived the tragedy.

The posties were given the news of not having to deliver the paper via the Communication Workers’ Union after a meeting went ahead between company bosses and union chiefs in London on Tuesday, though Royal Mail has not yet confirmed they have backed down. Staff at Neston and Ellesmere Port branches will also not deliver the papers.

Issues have also been raised over the delivery at Royal Mail's Preston and Essex branches.Thes well as the postal dispute, a campaign to refuse to accept copies of The Sun has gathered momentum nationwide, with people sticking posters on their front doors telling postal workers they do not want to receive the issue.

Among those who have stuck the poster up is Louise Brookes, whose brother Andrew Brookes died in the tragedy.The Royal Mail has previously said “any individual concerns will be handled sensitively with fairness, dignity and fully respecting the views of individuals. “Local CWU representatives and delivery office managers will work together to agree sensible and amicable solutions”

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