TEESSIDE'S steel industry was once again in the spotlight as Business Secretary Vince Cable visited the reignited blast furnace at SSI UK to handover £1.4m from the Regional Growth Fund.

Mr Cable toured the furnace and talked to workers at the steel manufacturing plant and blast furnace, which was relit last month after being mothballed two years ago with a loss of 1,000 jobs.

The money, originally awarded in 2011, will be used to train new workers and upgrade the skills of long-serving members of staff who were rehired when SSI bought the plant in 2011.

It is the first time in living memory that a blast furnace in the UK has ever been mothballed and then reignited.

Mr Cable told The Northern Echo: "I have been here before, but seeing the blast furnace reopened, it is a very satisfying thing.

"Talking to the workforce, some of whom never thought they were going to have another job, it is a really inspirational story."

Phil Dryden, SSI UK chief executive, said: "The Government is showing a high level of interest in manufacturing in the UK at the minute.

"It is great Mr Cable is here today. It is even better that we have got the chance to show to him a fully operating plant making steel again."