Corus has reported big losses

The majority of the cuts will be made at the Firsteel plant in Tipton, West Midlands.

A company spokesman said the latest redundancies were on top of more than 1,000 UK job cuts announced in April.

The firm is looking to cut costs as a result of competition from abroad.

'Urgent talks'

Gordon Rudd, West Midlands officer for the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) trade union, said: "We believe that today's (Tuesday's) announcement is devastating news for Corus' hardworking employees at Firsteel in Tipton.

"We shall be consulting urgently with ISTC members at the Tipton plant and seeking urgent talks with Corus.

"Piecemeal cuts in capacity and jobs such as this are no solution for the problems facing Corus."

Of the job losses announced on Tuesday, 102 will go in Tipton, with the rest of the cuts being made at the Brinsworth plant at Rotherham in South Yorkshire.

Corus currently employs about 50,000 staff.