SSI played fast and loose with North-East and jobs and its site must be maintained to avoid environmental devastation, an MP has warned.

Andy McDonald said the effects of the Thai company’s crumbled UK division, coupled with the Government’s existing steel policy, could paralyse the region’s employment landscape.

The Middlesbrough MP also called on the Health and Safety Executive to take on the sprawling Redcar site, and urged ministers to do more to stop the UK losing its reputation as a manufacturing hotbed.

He said: “It is really important the site is maintained.

“If it isn’t, it poses a very significant environmental threat to the immediate area and beyond.

“We have got to wake up and start thinking about our industrial base in this country.

“If we lose it, we will just be an assembly plant.

“This situation was already extremely urgent, but (after the liquidation announcement) it’s gone up a couple of further notches.

“SSI played fast and loose with the workforce and the future of the steel industry.

“We are all now waiting with bated breath.”

Mr McDonald also said SSI’s demise would have significant knock-on effects for the supply chain and the region as a whole.

He added: “Other businesses are dependent on steel workers having money in their pockets.”

Mr McDonald was backed by Gareth Stace, director of UK Steel, the trade association for the UK steel industry and a division of manufacturers’ organisation EEF.

He said the Government must focus its efforts on supporting the sector, ahead of a summit on October 16 between MPs, steel firms and unions, which will thrash out potential ways of ensuring the industry’s future.

He said: “The situation in Redcar brings the problems facing the UK steel sector into sharp relief.

“The Government must now spearhead efforts to support the industry and the supply chain.

“The Redcar site remains a viable plant and the Government-led summit will be a make or break event.

“Make no mistake, the future of the steel sector in the UK is in crisis.

“The Government must use this opportunity to support the sector.

“Time is of the essence.”