BRITAIN: Postal strikers blast 'deafening silence' Government accused of allowing bitter row to flare into walkouts.

Byline: By ALAN JONES 

THE Government was urged last night to break its "deafening silence" over the postal dispute as the Royal Mail lost a pounds 100,000 contract after tens of thousands of workers started a series of strikes which will cripple deliveries until next week.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) accused ministers of showing "complete disinterest" in the bitter row over pay, jobs and pensions, which has flared into the most damaging bout of industrial unrest in the service for almost 20 years.

Warnings that the Royal Mailwill start to lose customers were heightened yesterday when Warranty Direct said it would stop using the postal organisation to deliver 12,000 letters a month.

The car warranty provider said it will start emailing communications instead, saving the firm hundreds of thousands of pounds in postage and printing, and losing the Royal Mail pounds 100,000.

Managing director Duncan McClure Fisher said: "As a business we can no longer rely on the Post Office.

He added: "The consumer is ready, so we feel it's right to abandon the traditional service in favour of technology, and I am sure we will not be the last business to make the switch."

Workers mounted picket lines outside mail centres at the start of a 48-hour walkout at noon, which will be followed by another two-day stoppage from 3am on Monday.

Firms were warned that the strikes mean there will be no deliveries until next Thursday, and it is estimated that the row will cost industry millions of pounds.

The strike went ahead despite lastditch talks between the union and Royal Mail. They met at TUC headquarters in London, but there was little sign of a breakthrough.

The Government refused to become involved in the dispute.

A spokesman for the Department for Business said: "The Government has been encouraging and will continue to encourage the parties involved topursue and find a solution through talks.

"No one will benefit from strike action. Strike action can only damage Royal Mail's business and the postal services market as a whole. The dispute is for the Royal Mail management and the unions to resolve.

"Royal Mail needs to modernise to compete in a liberalised postal services market. Management and unions must work together to achieve this and meet the challenges of a liberalised market."

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the CWU, made his strongest public attack on the Government, saying it had shown "complete disinterest" in the dispute.

"If this was Northern Rock they would be pouring money in. This is a company that they own and they seem to have no interest whatsoever."