POST office workers went on strike to try and stop the Great Greenford branch from being franchised.

Representatives from the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) joined staff on Saturday in a demonstration that was part of a national action on pay, conditions and saving jobs and services.

They were outside the branch from 10am, handing out leaflets explaining the campaign and got over 100 signatures on their petition.

A CWU spokesperson said: “If the Post Office get their way the Crown at Great Greenford won’t be there at all. People are aware that franchised offices go to the back of a shop and they know the differences. We think franchises are the worst service for people because they don’t have the same dedicated staff.

“The public support on Saturday was fantastic. We got good publicity and it certainly brought the issues into the mind of customers.”

A CWU representative said they are prepared to negotiate with the Post Office but at the moment the PO has not changed its position or arranged talks.

The spokesman said that further strike action has been authorised as they have to take action every 28 days to keep the ballot going.

He added: “We regret the impact this has on customers. We want to tell the Post Office that their service is valued and we are asking them to come to the negotiating table. The union thinks we can resolve this through discussion.

“The Post Office do not seem to be able to compromise. They announced these closures without consulting us on how many offices there will be or reasons for franchising. We tried to organise protests outside as many of the 70 offices listed for franchising as possible and managed to get people outside around half of them.”

Kevin Gilliland, Network and Sales director at the Post Office, said that the CWU is ignoring the harsh commercial realities being faced by the Post Office and other retailers across the UK and that Crown branches are currently losing £40million per year which is being subsidised by public money.

He said: "The Post Office is transforming its network to improve customer experience and in turn bring in new business. This means for 70 of our Crown branches – less than one per cent of our network – we will be looking to partner with a suitable retailer, whilst investing £70m in the remaining 300 Crown branches to modernise and grow services.

"Our pay offer remains unchanged. We want to make the first payment of up to £1,400 as quickly as possible. Any future strike action can only delay how quickly this money will be received."