OUR campaign to save Orb Electrical Steels is gathering steam every day - with more than 800 people now having signed our petition.

Unions, election candidates, AMs, and - most importantly - Argus readers are among those throwing their weight behind our campaign.

In September, Tata Steel announced the plant would close by the end of the year – putting 380 jobs at risk. We believe this is the wrong decision, and we’re petitioning the UK government to step in to save the facility.

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Responding to the news, Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the steelworkers’ trade union, Community, said: “This is a shocking announcement, which will worry many steelworkers and their families in the UK and across Europe.

"This news has been badly handled and the company should hang its head in shame with the way this development has been communicated."

Tata has said converting the site to create steels for future electric vehicle production would cost more than £50 million. Yet the demand for such steel is there.

A report put together by Tata themselves claimed demand for steel for electrical vehicles will grow by 4.2 million tonnes by 2050.

Moreover, a plan has been drawn up by Community and consultants Syndex, which concludes that the plant can be saved with £30 million of government funding.

To download the petition, visit southwalesargus.co.uk/resources/files/123420

Print it out, sign it, get your friends and family to sign it, and drop it into the Argus office in Cardiff Road, Maesglas, Newport, NP20 3QN.