A planned strike by train drivers on Avanti West Coast has been called off

A planned strike by train drivers on Avanti West Coast has been called off. Drivers on the main Manchester to London line were due to take industrial action next month in a dispute over sick notes.

But the union has today suspended the July 2 strike, saying the company has confirmed it will remove the disputed sick note policy.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: "As we have always said, we want to maintain a culture of positive industrial relations. This outcome shows that when management come to the table and understand our members' perspective we are able to resolve issues effectively."

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A statement on the Avanti website said: "We are pleased that ASLEF has called off strike action scheduled for Avanti West Coast on Sunday, July 2. This means we can run our planned timetable and tickets are now back on sale."

A week-long overtime ban announced by Aslef for the start of July is still going ahead. The industrial action by about 12,000 drivers across the 16 English train operators contracted to the Department for Transport is likely to cause disruption across much of the rail network.

The ban will run from Monday, July 3 until the end of Saturday, July 3. The effects will vary for different operators, but as the mass cancellations at TransPennine Express have showed, many firms still rely on rest-day working to run a full service.