Local News

A lifesaving rescue of Sirius Minerals has been approved by investors after a crucial vote;

A deal to save British Steel’s plants on Teesside has come a step closer after Chinese group Jingye announced “conditional completion” of a takeover;

...and a local headteacher has stepped down in protest after Ofsted slammed a school which removed doors from pupil toilets.

A lifesaving rescue of Sirius Minerals has been approved by investors after a crucial vote.

Sirius agreed a £405m buyout with global giant Anglo American in January to save the multi-billion fertilizer mine in North Yorkshire and processing plant on Teesside.

However the buyout still required the approval of shareholders, who voted to back the offer yesterday in two votes.

The first vote required 50% of shareholders to vote in favour while the second vote required 75% approval of shares by value.

The first vote was passed by 62% while the second passed with 80% in favour.

The support means that the project, which has the potential to create thousands of jobs and is seen as vital for the Teeeside and North Yorkshire economy, can now continue.

A deal to save British Steel’s plants on Teesside has come a step closer after Chinese group Jingye announced “conditional completion” of a takeover.

The deal is set to be signed off next Monday, subject to staff accepting terms of employment, saving 3,200 jobs in Scunthorpe and on Teesside, as well as unlocking promised investment of £1.2bn to upgrade the company’s facilities.

Hundreds of Teesside workers have been waiting anxiously for the news - but now it's been reported that some of those working at British Steel will not keep their jobs after the takeover.

Jingye will acquire British Steel’s works at Lackenby, Skinningrove and in Scunthorpe, however it is not taking a stake in Redcar Bulk Terminal, after the former Redcar steelworks owner SSI exercised a right to buy a 50% stake in it in an £11.3m deal.

A local headteacher has stepped down in protest after Ofsted slammed a school which removed doors from pupil toilets.

Huntcliff School in Saltburn was rated 'Inadequate' after inspectors visited in November last year.

A report revealed school leaders had "not thought through" a decision to remove doors from pupil toilets, which left the boys' toilets visible from corridors and even visitors, from an outside area of the school.

It left those using the toilets feeling "unsafe and uncomfortable", leading to the doors being re-fitted during the Ofsted inspection.

The school's board of governors have confirmed that executive headteacher Peter Eyre has now stepped down, in disagreement with the Ofsted judgement.