'Minor explosion' at steel site

The hot mill at the steelworks was closed for routine maintenance

Emergency services were called to the Corus steel plant in Port Talbot after a "minor explosion".

South Wales Police said the blast, which happened at around 2015 GMT on Monday, did not result in a fire and no-one was injured.

Residents reported hearing a blast, shortly followed by the sound of sirens from emergency vehicles.

A spokesman for Corus said there had been an incident in the hot mill, which was evacuated in line with procedures.

Police said they left the incident at around 2120 GMT once it was established there was no fire.

They said they had attended the scene with the fire service.

A spokesman for Corus said the hot mill - which reduces a slab of hot steel to a specific thickness - had been undergoing a "scheduled stoppage" since before Christmas for maintenance.

He said: "There was a normal evacuation according to normal procedures and there have not been any injuries of any kind."

In November 2001 an explosion at blast furnace number five killed three workers and left a dozen others seriously injured.