THE end of an era came to Teesside this week when the last steel rolled off the Corus coil plate mill at Lackenby.

When senior roller Billy McQuade rolled out the last piece of steel, it signalled the end of Teesside's 160-year-old integrated steel making industry.

The 234 staff will work for just a few more days to clear the mill.

The closure was especially sad for Gerry Duffy, 61, from Middlesbrough, who has been at the mill since it opened in 1965. He is one of many workers forced to take early retirement.

When the mill opened, British Steel was in its heyday and it was seen as the icing on the Teesside steel cake.

Mr Duffy said: "When I started we were just on days, there was no shifts but it took off from there. There have been massive changes in working practices but we got through all of that. I am going to stop now because the decision has been taken to let the younger lads have the jobs. I was very disappointed when I learned it was closing but the people at the top have made a commercial decision and I have no axe to grind."

Mr McQuade, who at 54 is now retiring from the company, has worked in the mill for 32 years. He said the atmosphere was sombre this week.

"It was a sad occasion. People have worked in the mill for a long time and they realised that their mill had gone. It was like being at a funeral."

Tony Poynter, chairman of the multi-union steel committee on Teesside, said: "It is another part of Teesside's steel past that has been consigned to history and that has got to be sad. This area is a steel-making area and the closure of a major mill is something we should all regret.

"We still believe this mill is closing for the wrong reasons. Corus has closed a profitable mill. Our case was sound and that makes it harder to take. I have talked to some of the men. Some are very bitter, but some people are just resigned to it."

Steel worker Matthew Lodge, who has a job lined up in a different part of Corus, said: "There are mixed emotions among the men but the top and bottom of it is the men have been going quieter and quieter, they are sick of talking about it. I think Teesside has been robbed of its inheritance. This area has built steel making up over 100 years. It is like being told of an impending death in the family - you know it is going to happen."

l Corus advertises jobs vacancies: see page 5.