Ashok is delighted to hear that Corus will be keeping the South Bank Coke Works open saving 120 of the jobs that were announced to go by the end of this month. Ashok said "for those 120 families this must come as a big relief and i'm delighted that the hard work we have all put in has paid off for them."

However, he again emphasised that he was not giving up on the further 1600 people whose jobs are still in immediate danger. News that Corus is to delay the mothballing for a further month while serious negotiations are ongoing is also a good sign that all hope is not lost.

"Even while there is the slimmest hope that the whole complex can be saved, I will not give up on those families. I made it quite clear to Gordon Brown when we went to see him over Christmas that our priority is to keep steelmaking open on Teesside."

"I will continue to work closely with everyone involved, including Tata, Corus and the Unions to do all we can to achieve the goal of saving everyone's livelihoods. As an ex employee of British Steel on Teesside, I know many of the people involved and I will not stand idly by while these highly skilled, hard working people at the heart of our community are faced with this massive burden."