Dereham Post Office closed today (Tuesday, May 3) as part of a nationwide strike in a dispute over pay.

All 114 directly owned and managed Post Office branches across the country have shut for a 24-hour period due to members of the trade union, Communication Workers Union (CWU), being unhappy over a pay freeze in 2021-22 and a 2pc rise for the following year.

Just 1pc of the Post Office locations are directly-owned while more than 11,000 branches are either managed by a third-party, such as WH Smith or the Co-operative, or as an outreach service, such as a through a village hall, which have remained opened.

Although the Post Office is not commenting on the strike negotiations it issued a statement that said: “We want to assure our customers that the vast majority of our 11,500 branches are unaffected by the CWU’s decision to instruct their members to take strike action on Tuesday 3 May and will remain open throughout the day.

“Of the 114 branches – typically in city centres – across the UK that are directly managed by Post Office, 50 have been able to open today whilst 64 are closed which includes Dereham.

“The nearest alternative branch is Toftwood, 107 Shipdham Road, NR19 1AH. It’s open between 9am and 12.30pm. And 1.30pm until 5.30pm today.”

Andy Furey, assistant secretary at CWU, said: “We know Post Office has turned over huge profits in these past few years – management can afford to provide our members with a reasonable pay increase if they wanted.

“This is not an issue of affordability. This is about power play from a management that is needlessly antagonising its key worker employees. The attitude of Post Office needs to be viewed in the context of inflation rising by at least 9pc already this year.

“Our members don’t appreciate being taken for fools, which is why they have voted in massive numbers for strike action.

“Post Office can’t put their heads in the sand. This dispute won’t go away, and our members are united – they won’t accept a collapse in their living standards.

“To avoid more disruption to services this year, the CWU urges Post Office to get round the bargaining table and thrash out a settlement with us that treats our key worker heroes with the respect they deserve.”