The staff at Oldham walked out early on Tuesday

The workers at the Oldham depot had walked out at about 0700 GMT on Tuesday, in a dispute over the handling of a backlog of mail that built up during other recent industrial action.

However, just after 1330 GMT the dispute was settled after Royal Mail reached agreement with the Communication Worker's Union (CWU).

Workers initially walked out after a member of staff was suspended in the row, and his re-instatement was part of the deal.

Managers at Royal Mail had been meeting with workers' leaders from the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) all morning to resolve the problems.

'No action'

The CWU said managers had threatened to suspend other staff if they did not comply with conditions set down to clear the backlog.

However Ted Stead, CWU branch secretary in Oldham and Rochdale, said the agreement also included ensuring no action will be taken against staff who took part in the unofficial walkout.

He told BBC News Online: "We have reached agreement for postal staff to make one delivery a day to clear the backlog.

"Also, the lad who was suspended will return to work on Wednesday and all work to clear the backlog will be in line with health and safety guidelines to ensure they will not be overburdened."

Earlier in the day the dispute affected ordinary mail deliveries, although special deliveries continued as normal.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman apologised to customers for any disruptions to deliveries.

"However, now the dispute has been resolved collections will be unaffected," she said.

"We will now work to restore services to normal as quickly as possible."