1,700 jobs go in the north of England as Corus announces its mothballing some of its facilities.

A deal has fallen through to save some of Corus’ production plants in Teeside, resulting in the loss of 1,700 jobs.

The jobs will go as Corus mothballs some of its Teeside Cast Products (TCP) business. Its Redcar Blast Furnace, Lackenby steelmaking and the South Bank Coke Ovens will all close in January 2010. However, the firm said that several operations will remain in the north of England including Redcar Wharf and Redcar Coke Ovens.

The steelmaker was forced to take action after a consortium pulled out of an agreement to buy the plant’s production it had committed to in 2004.

“We are acutely aware that this will be devastating news for our employees, our contractors, their families and the local community. This is the last thing we wanted and we feel deeply about what is happening,” said Chief Executive Kirby Adams.

Mr Adams said the situation had become unavoidable. The 1,700 figure is 600 less that was envisaged earlier this year.

Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, said: “The steel industry overall has suffered an unprecedented fall in demand in the global recession.

“It is very disappointing that Corus have not been able to find a long term solution to the difficulties they flagged earlier this year, and this will clearly be a very difficult time for the workforce.”

Unite Joint General Secretary, Derek Simpson, commented: “This is absolutely devastating news for the men and women who work at Teeside. This is a dark day for British manufacturing.

“The government must now act to save Teeside as decisively as it acted to save the banks last year. The plant needs urgent financial support to secure a future for the workers and prevent its closure.”

However, Lord Mandelson added that the government had offered £5 million in training support to help Corus.

Community Union General Secretary, Michael J. Leahy OBE, said: “There is still time to save TCP as a going concern and Tata Corus have a moral and social obligation to Teeside steelworkers who have moved heaven and earth to rescue TCP and save their jobs.”

Corus said it will help all those employees affected by the decision get access to support and assistance during this difficult period.