POSTAL workers from a Preston depot were tested for the killer bug Sars yesterday after returning from China where the deadly disease has claimed scores of lives.

Two employees from the Pittman Way depot in Fulwood, who had just returned from a two week holiday in the Far East, were screened for the bug. It is still not clear when they will be allowed to return to work.

It is believed tests were done after other workers at the postal depot threatened to go off sick if the two employees were allowed to return to work unchecked.

Royal Mail occupational health chiefs are believed to have carried out the tests but it is understood that postal bosses have not yet informed public health chiefs.

A colleague at the depot, who asked not to be named, said staff believed their health would be at risk if the two holiday makers were infected.

He said: "Employees went to ask if they could work in a different office to keep away from them but management would only allow people to work twilight shifts.

"Some of the staff said they would call in sick if they came back to work unchecked."

A Royal Mail spokesman confirmed that two members of staff, based at Fulwood, had recently returned from holiday in China. He added: "Royal Mail is following government advice to ensure staff welfare. It has been established that they may return to work next week, at the end of their leave period, providing they do not develop any symptoms."

However, public health chiefs claim they were not informed of the examinations. They have strongly advised Royal Mail chiefs to seek their 'expert opinion' but have urged the public not to panic.

Consultant in Health Protection for Lancashire and Cumbria, Dr Nick Gent, said: "We are an expert body and we are available for people who wish to ask for guidance on health protection.

"There have been only five or six cases of Sars in Britain and they are not certain. Person-to-person transmission is very rare and we are not advising quarantine."

Union bosses for the Communication Workers' Union, which represents staff at Royal Mail, refused to comment.

The deadly pneumonia-like virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, is highly infectious, and symptoms include a cough and fever.

The World Health Organisation is still advising people not to travel to certain provinces in China where the disease is rife.

A Sars scare was also sparked at Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust after three patients, all of whom had just returned from the Far East, were tested there for the deadly disease after developing flu-like symptoms. The hospital has since confirmed that there was no one at the site with or suspected of Sars.

Meanwhile supermarket giant Asda, which has a store in Preston, has revealed that staff who travel to countries affected by Sars would be required to take ten days unpaid leave on their return.