After days of disruption caused by walkouts at London Underground and First Great Western the last thing Londoners need is another rail strike next week – and thankfully that has been avoided.

A planned strike by engineers on Southern Railway due to start this weekend has been suspended after a breakthrough in last-minute talks.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union were due to walk out from 5pm on Sunday for five days, and not work any overtime this weekend, in a dispute over the working week, rosters and productivity.

Commuters faced the threat of yet more inconvenience on the railways.

General secretary Mick Cash said the company had agreed to a phased reduction in the working week to 37 hours by May 2017.

He said: "Southern recognises that the hard work and commitment of our engineering staff has contributed towards the efficient operation of the company over the life of the franchise and any pay offer will be fully cognisant of this fact.

"In recognition of this major breakthrough, it has been agreed to suspend both the strike action and the overtime ban."

Members of the RMT union working for First Great Western are on the second day of a strike in a separate dispute over staffing levels on new trains.