EFFORTS to build a future for steel production on Teesside are being hampered by long-standing European rules, an MP has said.

Vera Baird, Redcar MP, said rules governing the European steel industry stopped the Government granting regional assistance that is available to other sectors.

Ms Baird said: "The genesis of the European Union was the European Coal and Steel Community, which had particular rules about state aid which were more stringent than in some other industries.

"While the Government cannot give any state aid at all because it would break competition rules, we are looking at getting the Government to commit to evaluating what can be done for the community on Teesside as a whole that would also help Corus."

Ms Baird was speaking after a delegation of MPs from the House of Commons all-party steel committee visited Corus' Teesside Cast Products (TCP) division, in Redcar, east Cleveland.

She said she was very impressed by information that showed steelmaking on Teesside had every chance of surviving for at least the next 15 years.

But she said the issue of infrastructure had to be resolved to give the company the best chance of success.

As reported in The Northern Echo yesterday, TCP needs extra deep-water facilities to allow it to move steel off the River Tees when it begins selling to international markets in 2006.

It needs to upgrade port and wharf facilities to cope with an extra two million tonnes of steel, but that will come at an estimated cost of £16m.

Corus said yesterday that it did not have the money for the improvements.

Regional development agency One NorthEast is looking at restoring a wharf at South Bank, but is being hampered by the regulations.

A number of ideas have been suggested, including establishing an industrial and commercial park on Corus land that would use the wharf as well as TCP.