Cleveland Bridge workers who lost their jobs when the company went into administration are to take legal action.

Around a dozen of the 53 staff who were made redundant last week claim the company failed to properly consult staff.

Law firm Simpson Millar, which has offices at Billingham and Catterick, says its specialist employment team has now begun investigations and are looking to secure a Protective Award for those affected.

Damian Kelly, an employment law expert at Simpson Millar, said: “Sadly, the collapse of Cleveland Bridge has left many former-employees out of work with little more than a moment’s notice, and likely worried about finding alternative work given the current climate.

Read more: First redundancies announced

“Regardless of whether a company is struggling financially, they still have a duty under current employment law legislation to carry out a proper consultation with staff at risk of redundancies. Where that does not happen, employees can bring a claim for a Protective Award.”

This is a payment awarded by an Employment Tribunal in cases where an employer fails to follow the correct procedure when making 20 or more redundancies and, where an Employment Tribunal finds in the favour of the employees, they will be able to access up to £4,304 through the Government Insolvency Service.

Simpson Millar is currently instructed by thousands of former employees affected by the collapse of a number of well-known businesses including Debenhams, Thomas Cook, Arcadia, Mothercare, Bathstore and Jamie’s Italian.