TRADE Minister Patricia Hewitt has angered campaigners battling to save a doomed cement works by appearing to back the company's case for closure.

Weardale County Councillor John Shuttleworth asked Ms Hewitt to step in after Lafarge UK twice shunned possible takeover talks over its Blue Circle plant at Eastgate, in Weardale, County Durham.

But, three weeks after Prime Minister Tony Blair raised the hopes of workers by meeting union leaders, his Secretary of State has left them feeling frustrated and angry.

Councillor Shuttleworth contacted Ms Hewitt early last month, putting his case for an investigation by the Competition Commission into Lafarge's refusal to discuss the sale of the plant, either with Weardale businessman Angus Ward or an unknown European manufacturer.

The GMB Union is actively investigating competition laws, as is Weardale's MP Hilary Armstrong, who is also Government Chief Whip.

But Ms Hewitt angered Councillor Shuttleworth by not mentioning the competition issue in her reply.

Instead, he claimed last night, she repeated points previously made by Lafarge about their reasons for shutting Eastgate, despite its record for productivity and profit.

Councillor Shuttleworth said: "She has regurgitated the Lafarge line all the way through.

"I stressed the urgency of this when I wrote, but it has taken five weeks to get a reply. It is outrageous.

"They are paying more attention to foreign affairs instead of concentrating on domestic matters.

"They don't seem to realise what this means to the Blue Circle workers and to the whole of Weardale.

"The company should be forced round the table. It is people's livelihoods that are at stake here."

Ms Armstrong said the competition issue was a matter for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and not the Department of Trade and Industry.

She said: "I have a letter outstanding with the OFT following the meeting with Tony Blair. They are dealing with it as a matter of urgency, but there will not be a reply for another ten days.

"I have met Lafarge again, but there is nothing new to report. I am waiting for them to come back again."

Billy Wilthew, Eastgate's GMB shop steward, said: "There is a terrible atmosphere at the works. The lads are desperate for something to happen."