TORY grandee Ken Clarke last night led a party delegation meeting Corus management to try to broker a way forward for the future of its closure-threatened Teesside plant.

Shadow Business Secretary Mr Clarke and Greg Clark, Shadow Energy Secretary and Minister for Teesside, met with Corus chief executive Kirby Adams to discuss the announcement three weeks ago that the Teesside Cast Products site could be mothballed.

Such a scenario – sparked by a consortium led by Italian company Marcegaglia, which tore up a ten-year agreement signed in 2004 to take nearly 78 per cent of the Corus plant’s output – would see 3,000 jobs lost on Teesside.

It came as Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons calling on the Government to do everything it could to save the plant.

The meeting, held last night in London, was initiated by Paul Bristow, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Mr Kumar’s constituency, who has told of his “massive concern” at the potential closure.

Mr Bristow, who also attended the meeting, said he and his party colleagues are keen to help in any way possible.

He said: “No one wants to see steelmaking lost from Teesside, and anything we can do to help and retain this vital industry will be done.

“The purpose of this meeting is to try and find out for ourselves the facts from the managing director of Corus himself, and then find out what we can do from there.

“I arranged this meeting as I know we all appreciate the scale of this issue. Ken is a real champion of manufacturing and is desperately keen to keep this plant open, and Greg hails from the South Bank, in Middlesbrough, so is fully aware of what closure could mean for the community.

“I have been out in the area affected by what is happening at Corus, and it has come as a crushing blow. People are very concerned about their jobs and their families, so we will be doing everything we can to help.”

Since the announcement from Corus last month, highprofile Government figures including Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson have pledged their support to efforts to save the plant.

Vera Baird, MP for Redcar, has also been to Italy to speak with Marcegaglia management to try to ensure the company continues with its contract.