CORUS is to axe 3,500 jobs, including 2,500 in the UK, the steel giant announced today.

Reports also suggested the steelmaker is to reduce its overheads by 20 per cent, and is in advanced discussions to sell its stake in Teesside Cast Products.

Almost 150 jobs will be lost on Teesside due to the restructuring of its engineering services and support functions.

The majority of the job losses have been confirmed at the plants in Llanwern, in Wales and Rotherham, in South Yorkshire.

Jon Bolton, managing director of Teesside Cast Products (TCP), described the proposed change of ownership as a "major boost" for the future of steelmaking on Teesside.

He said: “TCP will potentially move from being a non-core asset for Corus to becoming a strategic business for its new owners.

“We are taking an early opportunity to keep all employees up to date with developments at TCP in keeping with the openness of our culture change programme.

“Separately, we also conducted a thorough review of our engineering operations and what became very clear was that we have to refocus our attention on supporting our core activities – producing high-quality steel.

“I know this will be distressing news for those adversely affected by today’s restructuring announcement. We will do everything possible to minimise the impact of this on them and help people affected by redundancy to find another job.”