A UNION has announced five days of strikes by Post Office workers in the run-up to Christmas.

The walkout begins on Monday and will include Christmas Eve although the exact details of the days and times of the industrial action have not been released.

Among those branches that could be affected is Bolton Post Office in Deansgate in Bolton town centre, which is a Crown Office directly run by the Post Office rather than being a franchised sub-post office like the majority of branches. 

The Post Office took to social media to say: "Please be clear - 97 per cent of 11,600 branches completely unaffected by this action."

The strike has been called by the Communications Workers Union which is in dispute with the Post Office over what it calls "job security and pensions, and in defence of the Crown Office network".

CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey said: "All of the blame for this unfortunate turn of events is 100 per cent down to the intransigence of the company, who have launched an unprecedented attack on the jobs, job security, and pensions of thousands of hard-working and loyal Post Office workers.

"Our members want the Post Office management to pause its closure and privatisation programme, hold off on its planned pensions changes, and commit to sitting down with us and with the other key stakeholders of this Great British institution and, together, construct a lasting vision.

"The CWU can be a constructive partner to work with, but sadly, the people currently running the company have, so far, chosen the path of conflict and industrial disputes."

In a statement, Post Office Ltd said: "We are absolutely committed to supporting households and businesses in every part of the country, and in many communities our branches are the access point for retail, banking and postal services.

"Our network of 11,600 branches up and down the UK means that 93 per cent of the population live within a mile of a post office, and 99 per cent within three miles - we don’t see that changing, and nor does this consultation.

"We have modernised 7,000 branches in the past four years, including a large number in rural areas.

"We are reducing our reliance on the taxpayer and within the next three years we will become a profitable business that can invest to secure and build our network ensuring services are where people need them for generations to come."