LOCOMOTIVES at a mothballed steelworks have been cut up and sold, damaging hopes of reviving Teesside’s industrial heartland, an MP has claimed.

Tom Blenkinsop says he fears deals to offload SSI UK engines may weaken efforts to resuscitate the Thai firm’s former Redcar plant.

He has also called for an urgent investigation into the state of the site’s blast furnace, which has stood idle since SSI went into liquidation last year.

Thousands of jobs were lost after the steel company collapsed, with Lord Michael Heseltine since being appointed to lead a drive focused on cleaning up and redeveloping the works.

However, Mr Blenkinsop, MP for Middlesbrough South and east Cleveland, said hope mustn’t be allowed to fade that SSI’s former base, which is now being overseen by an official receiver, can house industry again.

But he said any potential could be dashed if equipment continues to be sold or is allowed to erode.

He said: “We need funding for an investigation into whether the existing blast furnace has a future - that has to be nailed down - and into the existing mills because those assets could be re-used.

“At the moment, under the official receiver, their future is unclear.

“I know from local knowledge that locos on the site have been cut up and sold off.

“We want a buyer to come forward to re-use the site for industrial purposes - hopefully steel.

“But removing the assets, cutting them up and selling them off, undermines its ability to be resurrected.”

Mr Blenkinsop, who chairs the all-party Parliamentary Group on steel, also called on the Government to help provide time to find a suitable buyer for Tata Steel’s UK assets.

The Indian company is looking to sell its plants, which include the 600-job Hartlepool pipe mills, after suffering the effects of lower steel prices, cheaper Chinese imports and rising energy costs.

Tata’s Long Products division, which employs nearly 900 staff across the North-East and York, was previously courted by US billionaire Gary Klesch but is now under Greybull Capital’s ownership and known as British Steel after Mr Klesch walked away.

Mr Blenkinsop added: “The Greybull deal took 18 months of hard work and negotiations to help the Government help the industry come to a deal.

“It meant assisting Tata in releasing the assets so we could get not just a buyer but a responsible buyer.

“Something similar needs to be done for Hartlepool; there has to be a national strategy that interacts with local agencies.”

Meanwhile, it has been claimed workers in the British Steel Pension Fund would see benefits cut by at least ten per cent if Tata’s business is not saved.

The trustees of the British Steel Pension Scheme also warned future pension increases would be reduced if the scheme goes into the Pension Protection Fund.