Postal services were thrown into chaos yesterday as the Communication Workers Union began the first of two 48-hour strikes. As the strikes, which began at noon yesterday, stretch around the weekend, there will be virtually no service until next Wednesday.

The consumers’ group Postwatch gave warning that a full normal service was unlikely to resume until October 15, by which time the union was due to start a rolling programme of selective walkouts throughout the network.

Postwatch and Royal Mail advised people not to post anything unless absolutely necessary.

A spokeswoman for Postwatch criticised Royal Mail’s decision to leave post boxes open rather than seal them as in previous disputes. “I expect it is being done to protect the brand but this gives the impression that it is business as normal and people may post items expecting them to go somewhere.”

The strikes are the second wave of national industrial action to hit the post service in a long-running dispute over pay, pensions and changes to working patterns.

Talks continued between Royal Mail and the CWU yesterday at the TUC but Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, criticised Allan Leighton, Royal Mail’s chairman, and Adam Crozier, chief executive, for not attending the talks.

He also accused the Government of not taking an interest. He said: “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. There is no indication of their concern in the slightest. The Government have been deafening by their silence.”

A spokesman for the Department for Business said that the dispute was a matter for Royal Mail and the union.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Royal Mail has consistently sought a resolution to this dispute and we have been in talks with the CWU since last March. We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience that CWU strike action causes.”

Fears were growing yesterday that if the action continued, it will have a significant impact on postal voting should a general election be called next week.

John Turner, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, said: “There is no alternative way of voting for people who have applied for a postal vote.”

It is expected that more people and small businesses will switch to direct debit and to Paypal as a means of avoiding the post.

Yesterday one business, Warranty Direct, which provides car warranties, cancelled a £100,000 contract with Royal Mail and said it would switch to email.

David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “This strike is doing nothing to Royal Mail but hasten the likely demise of it being the organisation businesses use to deliver their mail.”

Royal Mail is relying on its managers to carry on with some work. However, they have said they could strike because of the postal group’s threat to close its final salary pension scheme to all employees.

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