Redcar MP Mr Ian Swales has written to union chiefs in a bid to resolve the industrial action that has been taking place outside Redcar steelworks.

In his letter to the general secretary and the president of the TUC as well as the Community and Unite unions, Mr Swales said that the action was delaying the race towards a January 2012 restart of the SSI plant, and would have a negative impact on attempts to invigorate the UK manufacturing industry.

Mr Swales said that "This action is coming at the worst possible time for the plant. As it enters the final stages of reopening it is unfortunate that a minority of people are making it difficult to complete the job on time. The issue appears to be over national contracts and has nothing to do with SSI. I hope it can be resolved as quickly as possible so that we can soon celebrate the long awaited restart of the steelworks."

Bosses at the Redcar site said the protests targeting Steel House had cost them 8,000 man hours in the past week.

(Sourced from The Northern Echo)