POSTMAN SAT GETS THE SACK

Royal Mail ‘axe’ weekend round

THE Royal Mail wants to scrap Saturday letter deliveries to save money.

The service has approached the Government for permission to make the switch to five days a week, although its parcel services would still run all week.

The business expects losses of up to £450million this year.

Boss Simon Thompson has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to turn the group around. He said: “We have always been clear we need change to survive. We have started turning the business around and will do whatever it takes.”

A Government spokesman said “there would need to be a strong case” for axing the Saturday rounds.

Royal Mail, which is considering making 6,000 redundancies, said it had entered “intensive talks” with the Communication Workers Union ahead of fresh strikes planned for next Thursday.

And last night the CWU confirmed a further six days of stoppages in the run up to Christmas. They include a strike on Christmas Eve.