Tata plans to build a new electric furnace in Port Talbot to replace two traditional blast furnaces.

A plan to save British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant and keep the blast furnaces on during the transition to greener steelmaking has been put forward by the Community trade union.

Tata Steel's application was given the go-ahead on Tuesday morning at a meeting of Neath Port Talbot Council's planning committee. The company closed both of its blast furnaces last year and said they would be replaced by an electric arc furnace, as part of its transition to greener production methods.

The planning application to the Neath Port Talbot Council's Planning Committee sought permission to construct an Electric Arc Furnace, two new Ladle Metallurgy Furnaces for secondary steelmaking, and supporting infrastructure.