Tata Steel: Port Talbot steelworks given £500m by UK government

Port Talbot's steelworks will be given up to £500m by the UK government in a bid to keep the plant open and produce steel in a greener way.

Tata steel will add £700m of its own as it invests in cutting emissions. It has asked ministers to provide a bigger chunk of the cost.

But the package is likely to mean as many as 3,000 job losses across the UK.

The site in south Wales is home to Britain's biggest steelworks.

The steelworks features two blast furnaces working around the clock to produce steel used in everything from tin cans to submarines.

But the site is also one of the UK's largest polluters.

The UK government has agreed to fund the installation of new electric arc furnaces for steelmaking.

The £1.25 billion furnaces are expected to be up and running within three years of getting regulatory and planning approvals, Tata Steel is expected to announce.

The company is expected to warn there will be a "transition period including potential deep restructuring" at the plant.

Unions have previously said the move to the new less labour-intensive furnaces could lead to thousands of job losses.

Stephen Kinnock, Labour MP for Aberavon, said the investment to decarbonise was long overdue, but that he was concerned that ministers did not "adequately consult steel unions".

"At the heart of this failure is the narrow focus on electric arc furnace (EAF) technology, which will not only result in more job losses than necessary, but which simply cannot produce the qualities and grades of steel needed to meet the full spectrum of Tata's customer base," he said.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App.