UNION officials advised postal workers in Merseyside to return to work last night following a wildcat strike yesterday morning.

The workers staged the illegal walkouts in Liverpool, Wirral and West Lancashire, just hours after the end of an official 48-hour strike in a bitter row over pay, jobs and pensions.

Staff at the Royal Mail depot at Copperas Hill in Liverpool who arrived for a shift starting at 5am claimed they were told Royal Mail had implemented changes to shifts so they could not start until 6am. Staff in West Lancashire and Wirral also took part in sit-ins as did colleagues around the country including in Glasgow and London.

The regional secretary for the Communication Workers Union (CWU), Karl Web, said last night: “We have advised the workers to return to work because it is unofficial action.

“We are back in negotiations with Royal Mail locally and hope to resolve issues.

“The workers object to the hours being changed by executive action and not negotiation.

“We are not against the idea of later working hours for the sake of it, we just want Royal Mail to be flexible as they expect the workers to be.

“We are not Luddites and realise sometimes you have to accept change. All we are asking for is some compromise.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Unlawful action is wholly unacceptable.”