A NORTH-EAST MP has suggested the chief executive of Corus be removed from negotiations to sell Teesside Cast Products (TCP) if he is not fully committed to its sale.

Redcar MP Vera Baird’s comments follow reservations raised this week about the conduct of Corus chief executive Kirby Adams during attempts to save the mothballed facility, where 1,600 workers are facing redundancy.

In a letter to Balasubramanian Muthuraman, the vice-chairman of parent company Tata Steel, Mrs Baird asked for assurances that everything possible was being done to find a new owner for TCP and to keep it in good order until a buyer was found.

She stated: “Will you kindly ensure that Mr Adams fully understands and shares the intentions represented by these assurances.

“If he does not, as local people suspect, the best course would be to ask someone else in your company to undertake the vital sales negotiations from now on.”

There are understood to be three groups which have expressed an interest in investing in the Redcar plant.

Mrs Baird stated that after writing to Mr Adams in December she received an “aggressive and dismissive” letter in reply and described his conduct as “the very opposite of what a reasonable person would expect of someone with the interests of our community in mind”.

She also claimed Mr Adams had reputedly been rude to at least one government minister.

It follows accusations this week by the chairman of a select committee of MPs that Mr Adams was “arrogant and disrespectful”, and by Corus unions that Mr Adams was “in danger of damaging Tata and Corus’ good reputation”.

Last night, a Corus spokesman said: “Our understanding is that the letter has not yet been received by the recipients.

Until the letter has been received and properly digested it would be inappropriate to comment.”

Earlier this week, Mr Adams was admonished for refusing to appear before the North East Select Committee of Labour MPs, which held an emergency inquiry over two days, in Teesside and London, following the announcement on December 4 that TCP would be mothballed.

Launching its report on Monday committee chairman, Stockton South MP Dari Taylor lambasted Mr Adams for behaving in, what she described as, an arrogant and disrespectful manner.

She said: “We asked Kirby Adams to come and explain this to us, but he couldn’t find time in his day – I found that deplorable.”

Geoff Waterfield, TCP multi-union chairman, said that by refusing to appear before the committee Mr Adams was “In danger of damaging Tata and Corus’ good reputation, not only in the UK but in Europe as well.”

TCP managing director Jon Bolton, who did give evidence, described the allegations as unfounded and said Mr Adams had only been invited to appear before the committee a couple of days before it took place.