Hopes of an end to the bitter postal worker's dispute have risen after progress was made during marathon peace talks.
Leaders of the Communication Worker's Union (CWU) met throughout Friday with Royal Mail Chief Executive Adam Crozier to try to break the deadlocked row about pay, jobs and pensions.
The talks continued even though Royal Mail obtained a court injunction preventing the Union going ahead with a planned national strike on Monday and Tuesday.
Sources close to the talks said "real progress had been made" and it was possible that a joint statement would be released on behalf of two sides.
The unions' executive is expected to meet on Monday to discuss the dispute and consider whether enough progress has been made to call off industrial action.
The development came despite an escalation of wildcat strikes by thousands of postal workers in London, Liverpool and parts of Scotland in fresh disputes about shift times and pay.
Mail deliveries were badly hit again because of the industrial action and business groups started to warn that firms were experiencing huge problems because of the lack of mail deliveries.
The Royal Mail took legal action in the High Court to prevent strikes going ahead next Monday and Tuesday and said it was trying to ensure that the huge backlog of mail caused by a series of strikes in the last week was cleared.
The two sides were engaged in talks but there were signs that an end to the long-running row could be in sight.
