A NORTH-EAST Euro MP visited Corus on Teesside yesterday as steelworkers prepared to leave the doomed coil plate mill for good.

Conservative Euro MP Martin Callanan toured the works before meeting senior managers and union leaders to discuss the crisis in the steel industry, which led to the Anglo- Dutch steel group shedding 6,000 jobs nationwide, including 1,100 on Teesside.

Meanwhile, the coil plate mill, which has been at the centre of a battle by the unions to save jobs, closes today.

Production ceased last week, but the men stayed on to clear up the massive mill.

A package struck by union leaders and managers means all but 80 of the 234 workers have been found employment elsewhere in the company.

Mr Callanan said: "The past few months have not been easy for those on Teesside connected with steel production.

"But, rather than looking back, I hope the meetings were an opportunity to discover what lies ahead for this plant and the steel industry in the North-East.

"Corus is an important employer in the North-East region and I see it as part of my job to take an active interest in all areas of industry that affect this region, and to take every opportunity to engage in open dialogue with key players who have a particular interest in areas such as industrial relations, employment legislation, manufacturing and trading conditions and the single European currency."