A FIFTH 24-hour rail strike over the role of guards on South Western Railway (SWR) scheduled for this Saturday has been suspended to allow for further talks to take place.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said its decision to suspend the industrial action comes after a "flurry of correspondence" over the past 24 hours between RMT and SWR.

The remaining strike dates of Saturday, August 18, Friday, August 31 and Saturday, September 1 remain in place, however.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT has continued to work hard to reach a negotiated settlement in the South Western Railway guards’ safety dispute ?and after a flurry of correspondence with the company this week our Executive has agreed to suspend this weekend’s strike action to allow for further talks on the specific issue of the guard guarantee.

“The rest of our planned action remains on and the union remains committed to negotiating a settlement with SWR in line with other recent agreements with train operators that protects safety, security and access to services.”

A South Western Railway spokesperson said: "We are pleased for our passengers that this strike has been called off to allow further talks to take place. This means we will be running a full Saturday timetable on August 11."

It comes just days after SWR confirmed the proposed strike on August 11 was set to go ahead after talks broke down. The rail operator said talks with the RMT failed to reach a resolution, accusing the union of failing to accept the same terms agreed on another franchise.

But responding, the RMT said SWR’s statement “did not represent” what it had been told and added it remained available for further talks.

Union members have staged four 24-hour walkouts this summer, causing disruption to services.