Christmas cards should be arriving on time at addresses in Kent after the proposed sorting office strikes were cancelled.

Workers at sorting offices in Crewe, Coventry, Bolton, Stockport and Oxford were due to go on a 24-hour strike today potentially causing chaos as stacks of Christmas post would have gone untouched.

The strikes were called off late yesterday.

A Communication Worker’s Union spokeswoman said talks between the workers and bosses had progressed and both parties want to resolve the situation round the meeting table rather than with industrial action.

The action was proposed after modernizations plans laid out in a review by Ofcom suggested privatizing a third of Royal Mail.

The report by the former deputy chairman of Ofcom Richard Hooper said Royal Mail had missed out on a potential £500m of profits over the past year.