HUNDREDS of estate agents’ boards declaring “steel not for sale” have gone up in communities around Britain’s steel production centres as union Unite campaigns to defend the industry and thousands of jobs.

The signs appeared outside homes in Port Talbot in Wales, Sheffield in South Yorkshire, Teesside in north-east England and Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire to “show the strength of community opposition to continued threats to British steel.”

The union has secured a pledge of support for the steel industry from Labour if the party wins the next general election.