Talks over Corus contract future

There are 1,920 employees at the Teesside plant

Unions are to hold a meeting with Corus management over the cancellation of a contract which could lead to the mothballing of the firm's Redcar plant.

A consortium of firms, led by Italian steel specialists Marcegaglia, pulled out of a 10-year deal, threatening nearly 2,000 jobs at the site.

Teesside Cast Products multi-union chairman Geoff Waterfield said the meeting would be in London on Friday.

He said they would discuss the chances of getting the deal "back on track".

Bosses at the Redcar plant have announced the start of a 90-day consultation period with staff following the loss of the contract.

'Working hard'

The agreement, signed in 2004, committed the consortium of Marcegaglia SpA, Dongkuk Steel Mills Co Ltd, Duferco Participations Holding Ltd and Alvory SA, to buy just under 78% of the plant's production for 10 years.

Mr Waterfield said: "We've been working very hard looking at our strategy to see what our options are now.

"We're going to London today to speak with Corus and the new CEO Kirby Adams, to have a chat with him.

"The key aim for us is to chat to Marcegaglia and say look, what is it you need, what can we do, and how can we get this deal back on track?

"And some of those questions we'll be asking today at the Corus board."

The meeting follows Thursday's Steel Summit at Westminster, where government representatives including Business Secretary Lord Mandelson met with industry and union figures to discuss the situation at Corus, which is a subsidiary of Tata Steel.

It is thought that up to 10,000 steel-related jobs across Teesside could be affected if the blast furnace at Redcar is shut down.