More than three quarters of the Communication Workers Union’s 110,000 members turned out for the ballot

Royal Mail has offered to hold talks with the Communication Workers Union if a planned strike is delayed until after Christmas.

However, the union has dimissed the company’s offer as a “total sham”.

About 110,000 members of the CWU took part in a ballot this month, representing a 76 per cent turnout, and more than 97 per cent voted to strike in a dispute over pay, security and working conditions.

Royal Mail said that it would hold talks without preconditions and would extend the life of the ballot result if the union made a binding commitment to remove the threat of strike action until after the key Black Friday and Christmas sales periods.

Terry Pullinger, of the CWU, said that the union previously had proposed