Steel giant Corus is to axe over 2,045 posts following a slump in demand.

Sources said plants including Rotherham and Scunthorpe will be hardest hit by the latest cutback, following the axing of thousands of jobs earlier this year.

The new cuts will hit the firm's long products division, which supplies steel to the construction industry, one of the worst affected by the recession.

The company refused to confirm the job losses, but unions described the cuts as "devastating".

Corus, owned by by Indian firm Tata, announced earlier this year that it was axing more than 10 per cent of its UK workforce, by cutting 3,500 jobs worldwide, including 2,500 in this country.

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