UNION leaders are laying the groundwork for a concerted campaign to stop steel-maker Corus closing its Teesside works.

Officials met yesterday to plan a strategy to head off any move to jeopardise 3,600 jobs in various parts of the Anglo-Dutch firm.

The action came in the wake of an announcement from the company that it was likely to close one of its primary plants in the UK to counteract £1.2bn debt problems.

No decision has yet been on which area - Teesside, Scunthorpe or Port Talbot and Llanwern in Wales - will bear the brunt of a restructuring programme aimed at reducing steel output.

But the unions recognised that pre-emptive action was needed in case the worst-case scenario for the North-East became a reality. There was also a report yesterday that moves were being made to reconstitute the Steel Task Force set up in the wake of the last round of Corus job cuts, which saw 1,100 posts lost on Teesside.

Tony Poynter, chairman of the Teesside works' multi- union committee, said: "If they are going to try and single Teesside out we will fight to maintain it.

"There would be a massive social and economic price to pay if steel-making was to end on Teesside.

"There is not only the direct employees, there is another 6,000 to 7,000 people relying for their jobs on Corus staying on Teesside."

There is a great deal of anger among staff and union workers alike.

Mr Poynter said: "We have worked with the company and co-operated with the company but they have betrayed our trust. We believe they have not been straight with us and have not told us the truth. It is worrying for people, people are understandably very concerned."

A total of 3,600 people are employed on Teesside by three different arms of the Corus Group.

About 3,000 work for Corus Construction and Industrial - a third making iron at Redcar, 1,000 making steel at Lackenby, and the rest are employed as office workers and in the beam mill at Lackenby.

A further 300 people work for Corus Tubes at the tube and pipe rolling mill in Hartlepool.

An additional 300 are based at Skinningrove working for Corus Special Profiles.

Today, Corus hopes to hear the ruling of the Amsterdam company court on whether it can sell its aluminium works to Pechiney.