UP to 300 workers could face redundancy if Royal Mail bosses go ahead with plans to close the town’s mail centre.

Centre staff from Green Lane, were briefed by union reps last Friday on three options on the future of the present building.

Two of the three would see the Stockport centre shut, and could result in the transfer of all Stockport’s mail into Manchester.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), described moves to close the centre as ‘total madness’, and refused to rule out industrial action.

Dave Kennedy, branch secretary of the North West Central branch of the CWU said: "Any decision to remove a long established Stockport mail operation would be a kick in the teeth for the town’s population and CWU members alike.

"Our members have centuries of experience between them. They provide a first class service to the people of Stockport. We will fight to oppose any closure plans because the Stockport centre is part of the fabric of our community and one of the area’s biggest employers. Our members do not deserve to lose their jobs and local people do not deserve to lose the high quality postal services they quite rightly expect’’.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "Following a review of its infrastructure in the North West, which focused on the buildings currently used for the processing and distribution of mail in and out of the region every day, Royal Mail has announced a number of options for changes designed to secure its future.  The current mail centre network is not capable of providing and sustaining improvements to efficiency required for Royal Mail to meet the challenges of an open, competitive market in which mail volumes aredeclining."

According to the spokesman, the buildings which were reviewed, all within a 50-mile radius, were mail centres at Manchester, Preston, Oldham, Stockport, Bolton, Liverpool and Crewe, plus the regional distribution centre at Warrington.

He added: "Royal Mail will continue to talk to its people and the trades unions about the range of options going forward and, once these discussions are complete, a preferred option will be announced."