£48m metal job aid offer rejected

The plant currently buys cheaper electricity from Wylfa

The UK government is prepared to offer an aid package of almost £50m to Anglesey Aluminium over four years, says the local MP.

But the firm said it was not enough and closure plans were moving ahead.

Albert Owen urged the company to take up the £48m offer to secure the future of the plant at Holyhead.

The company, whose cheap electricity deal with Wylfa nuclear power station ends in September, employs 500 people in Holyhead.

Mr Owen has called on the company to "show commitment" to its workforce by taking up the offer.

The MP said the offer was substantial and came close to filling the financial gap that the company was seeking, as well as supporting the firm's plans to develop a biomass power station next to the factory to provide its own energy source.

"The government is making a commitment. What we need now is commitment from Anglesey Aluminium," he added.

But David Bloor, managing director of Anglesey Aluminium, said: "We looked at the offer put in front of us and from our point of view it's not sufficient.

"That's a commercial decision and we have to go on dealing with it. Nothing has changed. It's an offer, but it's not what we need."

Redundancy notices

He said the company had not received a formal offer in the form of a letter, but it had come through a "senior politician" talking to a senior executive of RTZ, the aluminium firm's major shareholder.

Details of the offer have been discussed at a meeting between Mr Owen, union officials and government ministers.

Mr Bloor said the company had not received a formal offer in the form of a letter, but it had come through a "senior politician" talking to a senior executive from Rio Tinto Zinc, the aluminium firm's major shareholder.

The company has delayed issuing compulsory redundancy notices for another two weeks, but details of staff numbers who have volunteered for redundancy will be revealed on Friday.

A spokesman for the Unite union said: "It is now the intent of the union, along with our political colleagues, to arrange a further meeting with the Anglesey Aluminium Board as soon as possible in order to move the matter forward."