Cleveland Police are appealing for any witnesses or information regarding a  Road Traffic incident at TATA Steel Roundabout, Trunk Road Redcar at  3.40pm on  Thursday 23rd August

At About 3.40pm on Thursday 23rd August a 19-year-old male was riding his 125 Arrow motorcycle along A1085 Trunk Road, Redcar, when he lost control and fell to the floor resulting in cuts to the lower half of his left leg. It is not believed any other vehicle were involved.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact Pc Carl Miller on the non-emergency number 101 and quote incident number 153013.

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With the first slabs of Steel produced at the SSI Teesside plant due to leave Teesside today we though we would share this video.

The video show extracts for a steel making video produced in 1984 when the steel plant on Teesside was own by British Steel.

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After the official “re-lighting” of the blast furnace on Sunday it has been unveiled that the first slab of steel created by SSI on the newly opened site has been produced today, and will pave the way for millions more like it to be made as SSI hope to progress into the future whilst creating a solid and stable steel industry here on Teesside.

The first slab of steel that has been made will not however go towards the new contracts SSI have agreed with companies around the world, but instead to the construction of a monument/statue that will celebrate the re-birth of the steel industry on Teesside.

Workers of the blast furnace, union leaders & SSI affiliates once again visited the newly operational site today to witness the first steel being created as tributes once again were paid to the late union leader Geoff Waterfield.

His wife & son (who was given the honour of re-lighting the furnace on Sunday) stated that Geoff would have been “very emotional at the re-light” and over the moon that the furnace was now fully operational.

The first order of steel is due to leave Teesport & travel to Thailand in roughly 3 weeks time.

For more information visit www.ssi-steel.co.uk

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SSI TeeSSIde

Sunday 15th April 2012 marked a landmark day on Teesside as the Redcar blast furnace was officially relit & reopened.

At just after half 4 on sunday afternoon 11 year old Wills Waterfield (son of the late Geoff Waterfield) relit the blast furnace during a ceremony which was attended by many of SSI’s top affiliates.

Geoff Waterfield (who passed away last August aged 43) spent his last months leading efforts to re-open the blast furnace after the site was abandoned and mothballed in 2010.

As a tribute to his efforts & services Geoff Waterfield’s 11 year old son was given the honour of re-lighting the furnace and completing the work his father fought to help save.

The Redcar blast furnace became a mothballed site in 2010 after a large amount of contracts for steel fell through, causing the plant to shut down and 1,000 jobs to be lost.

However Geoff Waterfield and a large number of workers, their families, management & union leaders fought to find a new buyer for the plant to bring the 120 year tradition of steel making back to Teesside for good.

SSI eventually stepped in and bought the mothballed site for roughly £300 million in 2011, bringing hope and stability back to Teesside just a year after 1,000 jobs were lost and questions over the local economy arose.

The blast furnace was eventually relit after months of planning and delays, including adverse weather over the winter months & union strikes.

The wife of Geoff Waterfield stated at the relighting that she was sure “Geoff was looking down us all” and that he would have been “very proud of the efforts of everybody”.

The relighting of the blast furnace is estimated to have cost nearly £1 Billion pounds with an expected revenue from the plant of over 2 and a half billion pounds a year.

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Blast Off

Restart of Redcar blast furnace

Steel bosses at SSI in Redcar made the announcement that the blast furnace will finally be re-lit this weekend with the first iron suitable for conversion into steel to be produced later next week.

Former steelworker of 30 years and Leader of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, Cllr George Dunning is celebrating the announcement by SSI UK to re-light the Redcar blast furnace. Council Leader and campaigner for the return of steelmaking to the area, Cllr George Dunning said:

“This is fantastic news for Redcar, Teesside and the region as a whole.

I would like to take the opportunity to say a big thank-you to all those involved in the return of steelmaking to Redcar including the SSI team, the trade unions, former MP Ashok Kumar as well as the Regional Development Agency, One North East.

A special thank-you and tribute should also go to Geoff Waterfield who truly embodied the passion and determination for steel here in Teesside.

The faith shown in the areas world class workforce and steel-making tradition by SSI has to be congratulated and I have no doubt it will be rewarded.

The revival of the steel industry is something we as a Council have campaigned passionately for following the mothballing of the plant back in 2009.

And this latest announcement will provide a real boost for the local economy and our proud steel-making tradition.”

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