WORKERS at the Morrisons distribution centre in Northwich have agreed not to go through with a threatened walkout after finally reaching common ground with the supermarket giant.

Union bosses called off a six-day strike planned for last Friday following negotiations that ran deep into the evening before.

The u-turn came after the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) confirmed earlier in the week that their 550 members at the Rudheath warehouse were still 'very likely' to strike.

Brian Revell, national organiser for the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), said: "We have achieved the key objective of establishing a national agreement with Morrisons and a consultative structure involving shop stewards employed by the company and by third party contractors.

"Against a background of a company that has been quite uncooperative this is considerable progress."

A spokesman for Morrisons said they were happy to have reached a conclusion.

The progress comes after weeks of wrangling between workers and Morrisons that led to staff at five depots being balloted in protest at the grocer's refusal to discuss problems with the unions nationally.