Thousands of steelworkers received an early Christmas present yesterday with the announcement that Corus has secured the future of its Teesside operation for the next decade.

The 10-year deal to supply a consortium of overseas companies ends nearly two years of uncertainty for 1,700 workers at the steel group's Redcar plant.

Bosses at the Teesside site - whose survival was thrown into doubt last year when restructuring left it surplus to the company's requirements - said the future was now in their owns hands.

The agreement will also help safeguard an extra 4,000 jobs in the region - part of the steelmaker's wider supply chain.

Managing director Colin Muncie said: "This is great news for everyone. There has been a huge amount of work put in here in the last year to prove we could stand on our own two feet and this announcement has vindicated that hard work."

The consortium, made up of steel traders and producers from Switzerland, Italy and Mexico, will take three-quarters of the plant's output. It will also pay out around £35m towards improvements which are needed to the plant.