CORUS is looking at cost saving measures across its Teesside plants that will prevent the need for further redundancies.

The steel firm is grappling with the decline in demand caused by the recession.

This has led it to look at cost cutting measures across its Teesside plants including Teesside Cast Products and Corus Northern Engineering Services at Redcar and the Teesside Beam Mill, in Lackenby, near Middlesbrough.

But The Northern Echo understands Corus is loath to cut present staff levels on Teesside, as it could leave the company short of skilled staff to take advantage of any upturn in the economy.

The exact nature of any measures has not been decided but Geoff Waterfield, chairman of the Teesside works multi-union committee, said they were working with the company to find ways savings could be made, adding: “We are trying to work out solutions to get to the end point.”

A spokeswoman for Corus confirmed that the company was working with unions to find ways of reducing costs.

In January the company announced 2,500 cuts at its British plants, but the 3,000 Corus workers on Teesside were largely unaffected.

At that time it emerged Corus was at an advanced stage of negotiations to sell its largest business in the region, Teesside Cast Products, which employs 1,700 workers.