Mandelson talks to Corus workers

Business secretary Peter Mandelson has visited two Corus plants in South Yorkshire where hundreds of redundancies have been announced.

Lord Mandelson met managers, union representatives and other employees on Friday at the steelmaker's sites in Rotherham and Stocksbridge.

Corus has announced around 1,500 job cuts at the plants since January.

The Community union has called on Lord Mandelson to do "all in his power" to support workers.

Community national officer for steel Roy Rickhuss said: "The steel industry in Britain has taken hit after hit this year - falling demand, high energy prices and round after round of job cuts.

"The time for action is now, before these temporary cuts trigger long-term damage to the industry and real pain for steelworkers and their families."

Meanwhile, Labour politicians in Sheffield are starting a petition calling for more government intervention to help save the steel industry.

City MPs David Blunkett, Richard Caborn, Clive Betts and Angela Smith are among those supporting the petition.

Sheffield council deputy Labour leader councillor Harry Harpham said: "We want to make sure that our steelworkers can receive the best support possible to help protect them from further possible job cuts."

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