STEEL workers vowed to continue to fight for the industry as Tata Steel prepares to close down its last blast furnace at its Port Talbot plant today.

Community Union general secretary Roy Rickhuss said: “Today marks an incredibly sad and poignant day for the British steel industry and for the communities in and around Port Talbot, which are so intricately connected to blast-furnace steel-making.”

Mr Rickhuss also said it was “a moment of huge frustration” after Tata Steel had rejected the joint union alternative plan for Port Talbot.