Strike breakers cut Royal Mail backlog to 5 million items

Royal Mail said the number of items delayed by strikes will have fallen to five million by the end of the day.

The company has hired 30,000 temporary staff - double the usual number in the run-up to Christmas - to clear the backlog. The Communications Workers Union, which has called strikes in a row over pay, jobs and modernisation, believes the backlog is much higher.

Union leaders were meeting Adam Crozier, Royal Mail's chief executive, and other bosses today, after it was claimed that the strikes had cost London more than £500million since the start of the summer.

The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the total could soar by another £300million if three more days of strikes go ahead from Thursday.

Colin Stanbridge, LCCI chief executive, said it would delay the capital's economic recovery: "This is a colossal amount of money for the London economy to lose."