Derelict steelworks land to be developed by council

Aims for the derelict land include energy production and advanced manufacturing

Unused land at the steelworks in Scunthorpe is to be redeveloped by North Lincolnshire Council.

A development corporation owned by the authority to oversee progress of the site was approved by the cabinet on Monday.

Aims for the land include energy production and advanced manufacturing.

The council said it planned to "maintain UK quality steel production" at the 2,000-acre site, while "unlocking derelict steel land".

It has not said what proportion of the site this includes.

It comes after British Steel was granted planning permission to build a new electric arc furnace at its Scunthorpe headquarters.

Union bosses previously told the BBC the new furnace could lead to the loss of 2,000 jobs in the region.

Council leader Rob Waltham said the authority had "known for years" that a lot of land on the steelworks site "had not been productively used as it could be".

The authority also set out plans for a local development order, which it said would "give confidence into the opportunity, speed up the proposed delivery... and set out clear ambitions for the site", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.