Unite says upcoming walkout at the plant, which was set to close in September, is ‘for the future of the steel industry’

Tata Steel has told workers it could to cease operations at its steel plant in Port Talbot months earlier than planned because of a strike.

The company had been planning to shut down one of the blast furnaces by the end of June and the second one by September. But workers at the south Wales site have been told that Tata plans to cease operations at both furnaces no later than 7 July because of the strike by members of Unite, which starts the following day.