Steel workers took part in a march earlier this week calling on the government to save the industry, with many of them insisting the cost of energy is one of the main problems.

Hundreds of them hit the streets of London, chanting “save our steel” as thousands of workers face an uncertain future following Tata Steel’s plans to sell its UK operations.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who joined the March said: “This matters. It matters to the manufacturing base of this country, it matters to those who work in the industry, it matters to communities that have supported this industry for so long. The trauma families are going through now has to end. There’s got to be a solution that guarantees the manufacturing base of this country.”

According to one protester, the sector has been asking the government for help on energy prices “for a long time” and “it is only now that they are starting to take notice, only when Tata said they were going to sell us”.

He added: “They’ve started to come in now and they’ve said they are going to give us some assistance but we’ve been asking for help and it’s not fair.”

Another employee said: “It doesn’t help that we pay twice as much as some of our competitors in mainland Europe. We’re not asking for a bailout.”

He added all they want is a “level playing field” in the free market.

• March, steel, UK