NEARLY 1,500 workers in Rotherham and Sheffield face “huge uncertainty” after Britain’s third-largest steelworks was placed under government control, unions warned yesterday.

Creditors owed £100 million by Speciality Steels UK – part of the Liberty Steel metals empire of controversial tycoon Sanjeev Gupta — were granted a compulsory winding up order by insolvency courts on Thursday.

GMB national officer Charlotte Brumpton-Childs said: “I think with the various court cases that have been ongoing over the last couple of months, it’s been a bit of a yo-yo where we’ve never been really sure what the court decision was going to be.”

The High Court’s decision for the company to be placed into the hands of the Official Receiver gives workers “more security” in terms of issues like pensions, she told BBC Breakfast.

“But in terms of the longer-term ownership and future of Liberty Steel, those are the conversations that we’re going to have to start having very soon,” she said.

Community general secretary Roy Rickhuss said that the “government’s intervention must mark a turning point to deliver certainty” for the businesses, adding “jobs must be protected” and wages should be paid, as well as outstanding pensions contributions being secured.

Local Labour mayor Oliver Coppard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The government stepping in to take control now is good news because it just brings to an end the uncertainty that we’ve seen on the sites.

“That was killing the business slowly. We now have that uncertainty brought to an end — that’s a good thing.

“But I now need the government to make sure that these three sites, two in Rotherham and one here, have the brightest possible future.

“So, we have to get a new owner in, the government, I think, should take their time over that process [...] to give people on the site that future that they deserve.”

The government has said that it would be a “deeply worrying time for staff and their families” but said that ministers “remain committed to a bright and sustainable future for steel and steelmaking jobs in the UK.”