Prince Charles visits Redcar's mothballed Corus plant

Former Corus worke, Richard Green, said Prince Charles offered words of support

The Prince of Wales met trade unions, employees and former staff at Corus Steel Plant as part of a visit to the Teesside area.

He was said to be "sincere and sympathetic" while speaking to former employees at the plant on Wednesday.

The steelworks was partially mothballed in February and more than a 1,000 workers lost their jobs.

He also visited Hemlington Lake, Caedmon Primary School in Middlesbrough and Mayfair Enterprise Hub, Redcar.

Richard Green, who was made redundant from Corus in February, said: "He was very sincere and sympathetic and I was delighted to meet him.

"If Prince Charles feels a need to put something right he can do it, so maybe he could step in here."

Small streams

Geoff Waterfield, Teesside Works multi-union chairman, said: "He understands the situation on Teesside but in reality I don't think there is an awful lot he can do.

"I asked him if he had a few quid he could give us or if his mam did. He laughed.

"It's nice that he understands our situation and wanted to meet the past and present workforce."

The prince also visited children at Caedman School, Middlesbrough

While at Hemlington Lake, the prince met young anglers, schoolchildren, artists and members of the Friends of Hemlington Lake group.

He unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion of his visit and also heard the announcement of a grant to help continue the regeneration of the Middlesbrough becks, which are a network of small streams running through the town.

At the Mayfair Enterprise Hub in Redcar, which offers employment training, accommodation for new business and space for community health groups, he was given a tour of the building and unveiled a mosaic to mark his visit.

During a visit to Caedmon Primary School in Middlesbrough he met parents, children and staff and was then joined on a tour of the school by senior business leaders from the North East.