THE fires are about to go out at Teesside steelworks after it emerged last night there is only enough fuel to keep the coke ovens burning until the end of this week.

“We are at a minute to midnight for steelmaking on Teesside,” said Redcar MP Anna Turley, as she made a last ditch plea for David Cameron and the plant’s Thai owner to save thousands of jobs at the troubled works.

Campaigners have called for help to buy fuel that will keep the coke ovens alight which risk being damaged beyond repair if they are allowed to burn down.

Union spokesman Paul Warren estimated there was enough fuel on site to keep the ovens going until the end of this week.

“If the coke ovens are damaged it will be more or less over for the steelworks,” warned Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of steel union Community, who was on Teesside yesterday to highlight the perilous state of the Redcar plant.

SSI stopped iron and steel production on Friday last week after it ran out of cash, and suppliers refused to extend credit terms. South Bank Coke Ovens have been shut down and 150 workers face redundancy. The fate of about 1,900 steelworkers now hang in the balance.

Ms Turley called on Mr Win Viriyaprapaikit, SSI president, to end the agony of uncertainty for workers and come clean about his plans. She said: "Their silence and brinkmanship is playing fast and loose with jobs, businesses and livelihoods on Teesside. The industry is the heart of our community and is too important for us to lose."