CONTRACTORS have been shifting plant and machinery from Teesside steelworks, as the fate of thousands of workers could be decided in the next 48 hours.

SSI president Win Viriyaprapaikit has continued to ignore pleas from MPs and unions to give assurances about the Redcar site where he called a halt to production last Friday. Contractors have used the hiatus to remove equipment pending an announcement that production will restart.

An SSI board meeting that will take place this morning should shed light on the Thai firm’s plan for the 1,900 people it employs on Teesside. Among the issues giving workers sleepless nights are: the prospect of the works closing in the coming days; concerns about whether monthly salaries will appear in bank accounts tomorrow (Friday) morning; and the perilous state of the Redcar Coke Ovens which will suffer massive damage if they run out of fuel.

Earlier this week it emerged that the ovens have sufficient coke stocks to keep the fires burning until the end of this week. Allowing the ovens to burn out will render them unusable and leave SSI, or future owners, with a multi-million pound bill to bring them back into operation.

The South Bank Coke Ovens (SBCO) were mothballed at the weekend, leaving 150 workers to face redundancy. Veteran site worker Mike Gilbert emailed The Northern Echo to convey the emotions he felt as the fires were allowed to die out.

“Saturday night I watched the last oven being pushed at South Bank Coke Ovens, something I never thought I would see in my life time. I watched grown men cry this is the emotion attached to our little plant the last part of the old Cleveland works.

“I have worked there for over 31 years and seen some good times and bad times, and literally shed blood sweat and tears. But the old girl has now gone we have had to watch her die over slowly over the years and she always seemed to have more lives than a cat, but last night marked a sad end to a big part of my life and the lads who worked the from new starters to old timers.

RIP – SBCO,” concluded Mr Gilbert.

When the Redcar iron and steel works was last mothballed, by Tata Steel in 2009, the ovens continued production as high coke prices ensured they remained viable standalone businesses. But a slump in the price of coke means they would now operate at a loss.