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Postal workers in Liverpool have voted to end their wildcat strike, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has confirmed.

A spokeswoman for the union said that the Merseyside workers had voted to end their unofficial action with "immediate effect".

The vote to end the wildcat strike comes after Royal Mail staff at the company's Yorkshire distribution centre in Normanton returned to work last night after similar action.

Royal Mail staff in Liverpool began their unofficial industrial action last Wednesday, following the end of an official 48-hour walkout. After the end of the CWU-organised strike postal workers in various parts of the country staged wildcat walkouts in protest at changes to their working hours.

News that the unofficial walkout in Liverpool has finally come to and end will no doubt be welcomed by Royal Mail, which has been striving to clear a backlog of post created by a series of recent postal strikes.

Earlier this week the CWU called off additional strike action in light of ongoing discussions by its executive about whether to accept a deal offered by Royal Mail over pay and conditions for its workers.

Union leaders began considering the outline agreement on Monday, with the document drawn up after last week's marathon talks between the organisation and Royal Mail bosses.

Yesterday the CWU confirmed that it would hold a further meeting with Royal Mail chiefs today in order to "clarify the remaining outstanding issues" it has in regard to its dispute with the postal service provider.

Royal Mail confirmed that it had agreed to the meeting but added: "The agreement reached and endorsed last Friday by CWU general secretary Billy Hayes and deputy general secretary Dave Ward stands."

If the CWU accepts the deal negotiated by its leaders the 130,000 members of the union employed by the postal service will be invited to vote on the proposals.

Unconfirmed reports claim that the deal proposed by Royal Mail includes a 6.9 per cent pay rise over two years and consultation on pension reform.

Previously the CWU had refused to accept a pay offer for postal workers, on the grounds that it contained "unacceptable strings" - including a reduction in pensions benefits.

The union also attacked Royal Mail's modernisation plan, which it said could result in the loss of 40,000 jobs.