The deal will create the world's fifth biggest steel firm

More than 97% of its shareholders backed the deal at an extraordinary general meeting, Corus said.

Tata's 608p a share bid for the European steelmaker, created from the merger of British Steel and Hoogovens, beat that of Brazilian rival CSN.

Corus employs 47,300 people worldwide, including 24,000 in the UK.

Fifth biggest

The takeover will create the world's fifth-largest steel group, producing 25 million tons of steel a year.

In the UK, Corus has operations at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe, Newport, Corby, Redcar, York, Deeside, Wolverhampton and Rotherham.

Tata Steel, part of the Indian conglomerate Tata Group, was last year ranked 56th in the list of steelmakers around the world with output of 5.3 million tonnes.

The Tata Group - which owns Tetley tea and Daewoo trucks - has operations in more than 50 countries.