Don't post letters until next week to avoid strike chaos

The industry's watchdog, Postwatch, has warned that the timing of the industrial action will disrupt the mail system for days.

It suggests people who want to guarantee the delivery of important items should switch to other courier services.

The first national postal strike for 11 years will begin at 3am tomorrow. Further stoppages are threatened in the coming weeks as part of a dispute over pay and plans to cut 40,000 jobs.

Mail posted Thursday is likely to sit in post boxes and sorting offices over the weekend and may not be delivered until Tuesday.

The stoppage by postmen will be accompanied by morning strikes in the country's 430 Crown post offices Friday and on Monday.

Royal Mail plans to continue emptying some post boxes and collecting from post offices.

But Postwatch warned: "Customers can help to reduce strain on this skeleton collection service by not posting from Thursday through to Monday.

"Even a 24-hour strike will mean that important mail items such as hospital and other appointments, credit card bills, travel tickets and so on could be severely delayed.

"Customers expecting important mail should contact senders to discuss ways of getting around the postal problems - for example, by finding out how much is owed on a credit card and organising payment so as to avoid extra charges."

The Royal Mail will use managers to keep the Special Delivery service running as best they can.

However, they will not offer the usual money back guarantee of delivery by a specified time.

Postwatch suggested that the public may wish to switch to courier companies unaffected by the industrial action.

The strike has been called by the Communication Workers Union in response to a major reorganisation planned by the Royal Mail.

The company is offering staff a 2.5per cent pay rise, an £800 dividend payment and a share in any savings made by local employees.

The CWU wants to increase the average postman's pay from £19,000 to £24,000 over five years.

The strike will be an important test for Gordon Brown.

The Labour Party receives substantial donations from the CWU and a lack of government support could see these payments axed at a time when the party's finances are in poor health.

The postman's path to peril

To passers-by, the shrubs in Marie Zadeh's front garden are a fragrant riot of colour.

But to the Royal Mail they are a threat to the safety of their postmen.

Mrs Zadeh, a professional gardener, has been told to cut back her plants - or pick up her mail from the post office.

She condemned the demands as "incredibly stupid".

"There is nothing in my garden that would hurt the postman or do him any harm at all," she said.

She received a letter from the Royal Mail on Monday requesting she cut back her shrubs or face the consequences.

It read: "We are experiencing-great difficulty in delivering your post due to the overgrown bushes in your pathway.

"I have an obligation to all my staff to ensure their health and safety at all times and this is now in breach of this."

Mrs Zadeh, 45, of Hove, East Sussex, is determined not to trim the plants.

"They are my pride and joy," she said. "I love my garden. All the plants are flowering at the moment - and the smell is wonderful.

"I have tied them back a bit and am determined I am not going to cut the plants until I am ready.

"What are the posties worried about, stepping on a snail?"