A COMPANY behind a bid that could secure hundreds of North-East steel jobs is re-opening a plant.

Liberty House will re-start pipe and tube making at Tredegar, in South Wales, next month.

The works, formerly part of Caparo Industries, were rescued from administration last year.

Liberty says the move will cut tube imports.

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman, said: “This is great news for the UK steel industry; resolving the steel crisis opens the door to making a host of high-value goods in this country.”

Liberty is one of a number of bidders for Tata Steel’s remaining UK operations, which include the Hartlepool pipe mills that employ about 600 people.

Tata is looking to cut its losses on UK works hit by the effects of lower steel prices, Chinese imports and escalating energy costs.

Liberty’s rivals include Excalibur Steel, which is led by former Tata boss, Stuart Wilkie, and wants to complete a management buy-out of Tata’s plants.

Earlier this month, Excalibur said any deal would result in 1,000 job cuts across the country, which would be in addition to the 1,000 announced by Tata before it put the business up for sale.

Excalibur wants ten per cent of its funding to come from employees, including those in the management buy-out team, and is also counting on support from the Government, which has raised the prospect of taking a 25 per cent stake in the winning bid.

Liberty previously said it wasn’t planning lay-offs.

Tata has already sold its loss-making Long Products division, which employs about 900 people across the North-East and York, and includes the Teesside Beam Mill, near Redcar, to investor Greybull Capital for £1.