RESIDENTS have reacted with outrage after a housing developer removed part of their industrial heritage to make way for more homes.

Barratt Newcastle is building an estate in Genesis Way, Consett - the site of the town's former steel works.

The land includes two large crucibles, which were used during the steelmaking process and have been on the site for more than 120 years.

Barratts shocked residents when, without warning, it sent in a team to cut up the larger crucible and take it away.

Tommy Liddle, secretary of Consett South Partnership, said: "It is criminal carnage. 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 is part of the heritage of Consett and should not have been removed."

The steelworks contributed to some of the most famous landmarks in Britain and the world, including Blackpool Tower and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

It closed in 1980 after more than a century of production, and with the loss of 3,700 jobs.

Derwentside District Council bought the site and put it into trust, under the Project Genesis banner.

Several parts have so far been sold for housing developments.

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 that would have cost an estimated £220,000.

The company has agreed to clean and mount the remaining crucible, at a cost of more than £20,000.

Derwentside district councillor Duncan Barnett, who is a former steelworker, said: "A lot of ex-steelworkers live in my ward and 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."