Is steel town seeing green shoots before election?

Stallholders Russell Brown and Maxine Greaves say uncertainly over the steelworks has affected the local economy

The battle to save Scunthorpe's steel industry coincides with an election campaign to choose the first mayor of Greater Lincolnshire. Ahead of the 1 May election, BBC News went to Ashby, in the shadow of British Steel's plant, to see how uncertainty around the industry could swing votes.

Ashby Market is less than two miles (3.2km) from the steelworks, which dominate the skyline.

Many in this North Lincolnshire community breathed a sigh of relief when the government took over the running of British Steel; a move that kept the blast furnaces firing and ended a consultation over 2,700 redundancies, announced by the firm's Chinese owners, Jingye, in March.

For more than a century, the economy here has been largely reliant on steelmaking, but there are lingering fears the future may not mirror the vibrancy of the market's cut flowers and bouquets for which it is known.

The government has taken over the running of British Steel's Scunthorpe plant

Maxine Greaves, 65, and Russell Brown, 67, run a stall selling flowers and plants, and they tell me they are worried about the number of empty shots in the town. They fear any further uncertainty over the future of steel jobs could dent confidence in the area.

"When they announced they were going to close the steelworks, the rest of the market - except for us - was dead," says Ms Greaves.

"It was like fear had gripped everybody. When they suffer, we suffer."

Clothing stall owner Rob Maini, 69, agrees that when British Steel sneezes, many in this town catch a cold.

He would like to see some long-term security for the steel industry, for the sake of the area.

Rob Maini wants the mayor to ensure long-term security for Scunthorpe's steel industry

Mr Maini says: "The majority of workers are from Scunthorpe and when they suffer we suffer. Let's get the steelworks back on the road."

Fishmonger Graham Garrod, 66, believes Scunthorpe has not fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.

"People aren't coming here and spending money like they used to be, it's declined since the first lockdown," he says.

"We need all that back and people having jobs and money to spend."

Graham Garrod says people are spending less since the Covid-19 pandemic

Francesca Cassie, 18, believes the mayor should help young people learn new skills.

The bakery worker tells me: "We don't have a lot of opportunities, especially in and around Scunthorpe.

"There's not a lot of places for young people to get the skills and opportunities they need to be able to put on a CV, because a lot of it is for the older generation."

Francesca Cassie, a bakery worker, wants more opportunities for young people

On 1 May, voters in Greater Lincolnshire will choose a mayor to oversee a combined authority with an annual budget of £24m.

Whoever is elected will represent 1.1 million people from the Humber Estuary to The Wash. The new role will include powers over transport, housing, skills and regeneration.

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The candidates, listed by surname alphabetically, are:

• Sally Horscroft – Green Party

• Dame Andrea Jenkyns – Reform UK

• Marianne Overton – Independent

• Jason Stockwood – Labour

• Rob Waltham – Conservative

• Trevor Young – Liberal Democrats

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.