A STEEL company boss said the latest job cuts at the Corus works were 'mind-blowing'..

Fender Steel Ltd, based on Midland Road, Scunthorpe, buys its steel from the works, where 500 job losses have been proposed.

Fender managing director Lee Norris said: "It is mind-blowing because with the number of people who come through the door who are already looking for work, to think this could be increased by hundreds is a scary thought.

"Local business is struggling already and if Corus is threatened, then Scunthorpe has got serious problems."

Fender has also had to cut its workforce, reducing its staff from 65 to 45 over the last three months.

As reported in the Scunthorpe Telegraph and online at www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk the redundancies at Corus' Scunthorpe site are among 2,000 nationally.

The Federation of Small Businesses said the wider effects of steel job losses on the economy of North Lincolnshire could mean more people losing their jobs.

North Lincolnshire chairman Neil Poole said it was not just the effect on firms supplying directly into the steel industry.

He said: "Wage packets being lost will have an effect on the local economy.

"There's that much less money going to be spent here."

But, despite the current problems, there is business confidence in the future of the Scunthorpe Corus plant.

Francis Micallef, general manager of Rainham Steel in Scunthorpe, which buys steel from Corus and other suppliers, said the news from Corus was sad not only for the steel industry but for the town.

He said: "We are optimistic Corus will invest in the Scunthorpe site in the future."

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