HOPES were high last night that workers who staged unofficial strike action at a North-East biofuel plant may this morning return to work after news that a resolution over the Lindsey oil refinery crisis was likely to be agreed.

More than 1,000 workers at the Ensus plant, in Wilton, on Teesside, walked out last Friday, in protest at 650 people being sacked from the oil refinery in Lincolnshire, and have staged walk-outs each day since.

Yesterday, the workers were joined by staff from Heerema in Hartlepool, as well as hundreds of other fuel plant workers across the country.

Work at the £250m Ensus plant, which is still under construction, has come to a halt.

Ensus chief executive Alwyn Hughes said every day of strike action was a day the company “could not recover”.

However, last night, as talks to find a way out of the dispute at Lindsey entered their third day – with a resolution expected to be drawn up last night, and put to workers this morning – hopes were high that the walk-outs could end.

Jimmy Skivington, regional officer for the GMB union, said: “If these talks break down, we are looking at a very long, drawn-out process.

“The lads at Ensus do not enjoy walking out like they have been doing, and are probably worried for their own jobs, but when their colleagues at Lindsey were sacked, that changed everything.

“I have my fingers crossed that we will have some kind of satisfactory resolution.”