British Steel chiefs and union figures hail town community

KEY figures from British Steel and at trade unions have thanked workers and management at the Scunthorpe site along with the local community following an eventful few days which saw the Government “take control” of the plant.

- By MARK PAGE

The future of the town’s steelworks “stood in the balance” after the site’s Chinese owner, Jingye, opened a consultation to close the two remaining blast furnaces, potentially ending steelmaking operations and putting around 2,700 jobs at risk. A government support package said to be worth around £500m was rejected and it was reported that raw materials were no longer being ordered.

Should the blast furnaces have been switched off, it would have been unlikely they could have been restarted.

Such was the urgency of the situation facing the only plant left in the UK able to make virgin steel, Parliament was recalled from the Easter recess on Saturday, April 12, to pass emergency legislation that saw the Government take control of operations at Scunthorpe site to ensure the blast furnaces kept burning.