The Communication Worker's Union today announced that 66 per cent of its members have voted to accept a deal ending a dispute that led to nationwide strikes in October last year. Although the dispute was essentially about pay, working practices and job cuts, the agreement will also affect how much unaddressed junk mail householders receive.

A long-standing agreement between the union and Royal Mail limited the number of leaflets postmen have to deliver to three items per household per week. From today this cap has now been removed. In addition Royal Mail will start delivering door-to-door items on Saturdays and during the busy Christmas period.

After union representatives and Royal Mail reached a deal in March there was some criticism about the proposal to remove the cap on unaddressed junk mail. A particular concern is that postmen will no longer get paid extra for delivering leaflets. The result could be that postmen have to deliver significantly more junk mail for less pay.

Royal Mail has refused to reveal how many leaflets it hopes to deliver but has stated that householders do not have to fear a drastic increase in junk mail. The new junk mail policy will be reviewed via quarterly review meetings.

According to Royal Mail the company currently delivers "only" 25 per cent of all unaddressed mail items. However, this figure includes inserts in newspapers and magazines. Royal Mail already delivers 50 per cent of all door-to-door items.

Earlier this month Royal Mail revealed that 198,000 households, or 0.7 per cent of all households, were registered with the company's Door-to-Door Opt-Out in 2009.