RESIDENTS are outraged that a housing developer has removed part of their industrial heritage.

Barratt Newcastle is building an estate on Genesis Way, Consett - site of the town's former steelworks. Two giant crucibles, used in steel-making, have sat on the site for 120 years.

Barratts shocked residents when it sent in a team to cut up the larger crucible and carry it off.

Tommy Liddle, secretary of Consett South Partnership, said: "Men sweated blood and some actually died there in the blast furnace. It is a disgrace and a snub to the people of Consett. This is all we have left of the British Steel site. It should not have been removed."

The steelworks contributed to some of the most famous landmarks in Britain and the world, including Sydney Harbour Bridge and Blackpool Tower. It closed its doors in 1980 after more than a century of production, with the loss of 3,700 jobs.

Derwentside District Council bought the site and put it into trust, under the Project Genesis banner. Several chunks have so far been sold off for housing.

A Barratt spokesman said: "The site we have purchased contains some contamination which must be removed - much of which lies below the crucibles. These crucibles must be lifted in order that the contamination underneath may be addressed.

"Regrettably the cost of lifting the larger one was excessive, outside the bounds of financial reasonableness, and it had to be cut up instead. This decision was not taken lightly but is a result of the crucibles being dumped in the wrong location."

Barratts, which is spending £2.8m cleaning up the site, had looked into hiring a crane to move the larger crucible, but it would cost an estimated £220,000. The company has agreed to clean and mount the smaller remaining crucible, at a cost of more than £20,000.

District councillor Duncan Barnett, himself a former steel worker, said: "My phone has been red hot.

"While I am pleased that there are plans to get the remaining one restored, I am dismayed that the other has been cut up."