POLICE were called to the Royal Mail sorting office in Ascot Road this morning to deal with another dispute between management and staff.

Union officials claim a group of 12 sorting workers were told by managers to undertake delivery work - a role they are allegedly untrained and unsuited for.

After the group refused they were told by managers their actions constituted "unofficial industrial action" and were told to leave the building.

After the group refused, managers called the police to remove them.

Alan Walsh, from the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said: "I don't know why they are doing this. There are people here already who are delivery trained who are being told to stay in the depot - it defies all logic.

"It's ridiculous that they called the police in. Surely they've got better things to do. I've been here for 20 years and I've never seen anything like this in my life.

"We've got one guy here who is 63 who was sent out on deliveries yesterday with about 13 or 14 pouches of mail. It makes no sense what they are doing."

A police van arrived at around 9.30 but left soon afterwards after taking no action.

A police spokesman said:"No offences were disclosed and no criminal activity or breach of the peace took place.

"The police gave impartial advice to both sides and reassured them that if any offence happened, that it would be dealt with by the police as an independent body."

One postal worker told the Observer: "This is ludicrous. I don't know why the Royal Mail thinks it can use these types of bully boy tactics and call the police in.

"What are the police going to do - force us all out of the building? My mates are just trying to work in there and they've called in the police. This really is a farce."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "At Watford and elsewhere, Royal Mail has a zero tolerance policy against any instances of bullying by anyone in the organisation. We are committed to running our operation in a flexible and efficient way to ensure customers' mail is delivered on time and without unnecessary delay."