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The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) has said that it plans to announce fresh postal strikes after talks with Royal Mail ended on Sunday without agreement.

In a statement the union said that while progress had been made in a number of areas, including pay, Royal Mail bosses had ended an agreed "period of calm".

The CWU announced the suspension of planned postal strikes at the beginning of August, in order for further discussions to take place with Royal Mail.

Union leaders had rejected a 2.5 per cent pay deal for postal workers and have previously insisted that Royal Mail's modernisation plans could lead to the loss of 40,000 jobs.

Following the breakdown of talks between the two sides at the weekend, the CWU said that it could "only presume that Royal Mail [is] set to implement unagreed operational changes".

The union added: "As a result, despite being committed to further talks and being determined to reach an agreement, CWU will announce further strikes to be held prior to the end of September."

According to the CWU, it has rejected a proposal by Royal Mail which includes flexibility measures it claims would leave postal workers unsure of what job they were performing from day-to-day.

The union also insists that pension changes for postal workers would lead to a reduction in retirement benefits for staff, increased employee contributions and a later retirement age.

But in a statement yesterday, Royal Mail said that it was "extremely disappointed" that the CWU was continuing to "ignore the stark challenges facing the company" after weeks of talks.

The postal service provider has repeatedly insisted that it needs to reform its operations in order to compete effectively with rivals.

"Royal Mail is already losing business because our costs and therefore our prices are too high and our business customers are choosing to go elsewhere," Royal Mail bosses stressed.