ROYAL Mail has lashed out at the postal union who are on strike in the build-up to Christmas - leaving Warrington's mail centre full.

In a scathing attack, the postal giants have decried workers taking part in industrial action, accusing them of 'holding Christmas to ransom.'

Images were shared by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) of the scenes at Warrington's Royal Mail depot, which show packages left piled outside the sorting office.

Warrington Guardian: Strike action is causing turmoil at Warrington's Royal Mail depotStrike action is causing turmoil at Warrington's Royal Mail depot (Image: CWU)

In the latest instalment of the saga, Royal Mail has said that it is doing everything that it can to ensure that the service runs as smoothly as possible over the festive period, despite 'damaging strike action.'

The industrial action taken on behalf of the CWU comes amid impending rail and nursing strikes, all of which hinge on the treatment of workers, and unsatisfactory pay offers.

Members of the CWU have been striking throughout 2022, with workers from BT's offices in Birchwood joining the picket line in July - many on strike for the first time ever.

When images of Warrington's Royal Mail depot were circulated by the CWU, it was claimed that the sorting offices were in a chaotic state, though this has been disputed by the company.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: "The pictures show a busy Mail Centre with thousands of parcels moving through our network.

"The site shown is processing thousands of parcels an hour, so volume moves very quickly through the centre and on to the next stage in its journey.

"When we are busy, especially as we recover from damaging strike action, we may have to use all space on site for the temporary storage of mail.

"This frees up space in the mail centre to ensure we can keep all mail moving."

Meanwhile, the CWU told the Warrington Guardian: “This has been a crisis that could have been avoided if a few weeks ago, Royal Mail CEO Simon Thompson had bothered turning up to a scheduled meeting with workplace representatives to avert these strikes.

“Postal workers belong to the communities they serve and want to get back on the job, but they know their value – and they won’t accept the casualisation of their work, the destruction of their conditions and the wrecking of their family lives.”

Clapping back at the striking union workers, Royal Mail said: "We are doing all we can to deliver Christmas for our customers and minimise the impact of damaging industrial action.

"The CWU is striking at our busiest time, holding Christmas to ransom for our customers, businesses and families across the country.

"We have well-developed contingency plans in place to minimise delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected. 

"However, we cannot fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce on days the CWU are taking strike action."