HUDDERSFIELD was hit by more mail misery after staff walked out of the town’s two main post offices.

Post Office counter staff went on strike from 6am to noon yesterday in a protest over transferring services to stationery retail chain W H Smith.

But the action closed only a handful of post offices as managers manned the counters.

Both Northumberland Street and New Street remained open, but there was disruption to companies picking bulk mail up.

Sub post offices were not affected by the dispute.

Post Office Limited said nationwide about 13 of its crown post offices failed to open because of industrial action by members of the Communication Workers’ Union.

Hundreds of union members went on strike in protest at plans to close 85 crown branches and move services to the High Street retailer.

They say this will lead up to 1,500 job losses as well as cutting the majority of workers’ pay by between £5,000 and £6,000 over three years.

They say the company also plan to withdraw Saturday allowances, costing the majority of members on average £1,000 a year every year for the next 10 years and also cut the value of the majority of members’ pensions by thousands of pounds.

National Officer Andy Furey said “The plans announced will have an extremely negative impact, not just on postal workers, but also for the public.”

Branch secretary Dave Walton added: “The result of the ballot for strike action was an overwhelming yes.”

Meanwhile, postal workers were still clearing the backlog of mail caused by last Friday’s 24-hour strike in a separate row over pay and jobs.