About 25,000 of London's postmen and women took part in the strike

The Royal Mail said a 3% increase will be paid in the next few days to postmen and women, with an extra 11.5% available when productivity targets are met.

Staff in London will also receive a �300-a-year rise in the London weighting allowance but this falls short of the �4,000-a-year demanded by the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

The union is expected to announce that its members will join thousands of council workers taking part in their own one-day strike over London weighting on 16 October.

Fair offer

About 25,000 of London's postmen and women took part in a 24-hour strike on 1 October which caused huge disruption and cost Royal Mail up to �10m.

The �300 from Royal Mail will increase Outer London weighting to �2,667 and Inner London weighting to �3,784.

But the union wants a flat-rate rise in the London allowance to �4,000 for each postal worker.

A Royal Mail spokesman said further strikes would not improve the offer, which the company believed was fair.

Postal workers voted against a national strike by a margin of less than 2,000 votes last month, but workers in London backed industrial action over allowances.