A FORMER steel worker has spoken about the “difficult and distressing” year since the end of steel making on Teesside.

Paul Sparrow spent six months working as a project manager at the SSI plant in Redcar, before discovering he was to lose his job like the thousands more who worked at the site.

Mr Sparrow is now working at the Ministry Defence but has told The Northern Echo of his struggles over the last year, which he described as an “absolute nightmare.”

“My last day at SSI was September 17. Since then, it has been extremely difficult and distressing” he said.

“I thought it would be easy to get another job but after one failed interview, my confidence hit rock bottom.”

Mr Sparrow, who spent six years living in Redcar, claims he contacted more than 160 agencies in the last year to try and find work, and would spend all day looking for a job, whilst living off £300 a month.

“I have been on steel plants most of my life but always in engineering, and employers would always say you are not suitable because you were in the steel industry. They just assume you make the steel.”

He added there was no sign of the troubles that lay ahead for SSI in the weeks leading up the closure of the plant.

“We had meetings with the Thai owners three weeks before and they continued to talk about five year plans, whilst at the same time, not authorising any money for my department.

“If only they had been more honest, we could have been better prepared.”

Mr Sparrow was a project manager in the environmental department of the plant.

“Dust and emissions were a big problem. We had a lot of public complaints, especially from the golf course.

“It was a big issue and needed resolving.”

Mr Sparrow finally got a job as a production operator at Honda, not before he began a training course with help from the SSI Task Force.

“The Task Force was really helpful, I would fully recommended them.

“I went from managing an £80 million project to working on a car production line, but the Honda job was a lifeline.

“It was a basic wage and helped towards paying some bills but my partner had to use her savings for us to get by.

“I took every opportunity to do overtime just to survive.”

Mr Sparrow had to borrow £2,000 from his mum to buy a car so that he could travel to work every morning.

He planned to use the vehicle to visit her, but she sadly passed away on the day he went to buy the car, adding to his despair.

“I am usually a very confident, happy-go-lucky and positive guy. I have worked hard and helped others along the way, but when I needed help, no one cared.

“It has been a tough year. I am one of the lucky ones – I know people who will be still looking for work" added Mr Sparrow, who now lives in Swindon.

A recent report from the SSI Task Force said former steel workers made redundant after the collapse of SSI have been forced to accept major pay cuts to find new jobs.

The Task Force also said the cost of helping people rebuild their lives currently stands at nearly £24m, with close to £400,000 of emergency funding spent on workers’ bills and cost of living.

Last Sunday marked one year since 170 years of steel production came to an end in Redcar.