£15bn steel deal saves 4,000 jobs

MORE than 4,000 jobs will be saved at Port Talbot after steel giants Tata and Thyssenkrupp agreed a £15bn tie-up.

The joint venture will ends years of uncertainty over the future of plants including the Port Talbot works in South Wales.

Indian- owned Tata’s UK plants will be merged into a European venture with German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp following negotiations that have dragged on for more than a year.

Between them they employ around 48,000 workers and will create the second biggest steel firm in Europe after Arcelor Mittal.

The firms have committed to avoid compulsory redundancies until October 2026 and the first £200m of any operating profit will be invested back into the business.