THE first two days of this month's London Underground strikes have been called off.

According to the Evening Standard, this is due to 'last ditch' talks between Tube bosses and union representatives.

Members of the RMT union had planned to take industrial action across four days this month, lasting for 24 hours.

These were from 12pm noon today (August 3), Thursday (August 5), August 24 and 26, until 11:59am the following days.

The reason behind the industrial action stems from a row over plans to abolish separate pay grades for drivers who work night shifts.

But the strikes have now been called off at the last minute to allow for further talks, with the later two-day strike expected to go ahead unless a further settlement is agreed.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: "Following extensive and wide-ranging discussions through the Acas machinery we have hammered out enough ground to allow those talks to continue.

"As a result, this week's strike action is suspended although the rest of the planned action remains on.

"I want to thank our members and our reps whose unity and determination has allowed us to reach this stage today and we look forward to pursuing the important issues at the heart of this dispute in the next phase of talks."

An Acas spokesperson said: "Following Acas talks, we're pleased that the planned strike action this week has been suspended for further discussions."

Richard Jones, Head of Network Operations for London Underground, said: "We welcome the decision by the RMT to suspend their action to allow further discussions to take place.

"We are confident that the changes we have made to rosters are positive for London Underground train drivers and the services we offer as London recovers from the pandemic.

"We look forward to discussions continuing."

Following the announcement, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, tweeted that he was "pleased to hear Londoner's won't face unnecessary disruption".

The Mayor said: "This shows what can be achieved by engaging and talking to staff."