Postal workers walk out over dead rat

Mail deliveries were hit today when postal workers staged a wildcat strike - in a row over a dead rat.

The rat was found in the men's toilet at a delivery office in Leyton, East London, so male postal workers asked whether they could use the women's facilities while postwomen could use a toilet in the staff canteen.

Up to 100 workers walked out on unofficial strike today complaining that their manager had turned down their request.

The fresh walkout was expected to hit deliveries in East London and added to a series of strikes by thousands of postal workers across the capital.

Sources among the strikers said up to 5,000 people had stopped work because of separate disputes in west and east London.

Some warned that the disputes would escalate as managers tried to move mail from strike-hit centres to other offices.

Disputes flared earlier this week in Greenford and Dartford over mail handling arrangements, while workers in West Ealing, Acton and Kensington took unofficial action after a union rep was suspended.