Relations between the two sides have reached crisis point amid a clash between the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and Allan Leighton, Royal Mail’s chairman.

The tension increased yesterday as both parties questioned the validity of each other’s surveys on whether workers supported a new share ownership scheme.

The CWU said that 98.5 per cent of 91,478 voters supported the union’s campaign for full public ownership.

Royal Mail, which is pushing for a partial privatisation, said last week that 83,000 people had registered an interest in free shares.

Mr Leighton called yesterday for an independent audit of both surveys, a move described by Billy Hayes, the CWU general secretary, as “bloody cheeky”. Mr Hayes said: “Allan Leighton kind of believes in one person one vote, so long as he is the person with the vote.”

Royal Mail said that although the union’s ballot had been banned from the workplace, because it was considered political, “piles of ballot papers were left in delivery offices and mail centres for anyone to pick up. No form of identity was required to take part, and no names or pay numbers had to be given.”

The two sides are also at loggerheads over the imposition by Royal Mail of a 2.9 per cent pay increase, which has been rejected by the union. According to a CWU telephone survey of 1,000 members, 68 per cent were either angry or very angry about the imposition of the increase.

Dave Ward, the CWU deputy general secretary, told delegates at the union’s annual conference in Bournemouth yesterday that a strike ballot would not be about pay alone but “about tackling the unacceptable, deplorable attitude of Leighton and Co that they have displayed to this union for too long.” Mr Ward said after the debate that he did not believe that Royal Mail would back down before a ballot.

Three years ago the CWU narrowly lost a crucial strike ballot vote over pay. However, then the pay offer was higher and Royal Mail had not imposed its offer early. The last national postal strike took place in 1996.

UNION'S QUESTIONS AND LEIGHTON'S PERSPECTIVE

What the union asked its members
Do you want:

What Allan Leighton wrote to employees
With all the talk of possible share schemes in the press, I thought it would be helpful to give you our perspective

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