PLAID CYMRU leader Leanne Wood called for the part-nationalisation of Welsh steelworks yesterday to save more than 1,000 jobs.

Ms Wood’s intervention came after reports that Tata Steel will tell hundreds of workers at the Port Talbot and Llanwern works this week that they will lose their jobs.

In the latest blow to Britain’s beleaguered steel sector, about 700 steelworkers will be made redundant, along with 300 support staff, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Tata Steel kept coy about the situation yesterday, saying only that any announcement would go “directly to the workforce at the right time.”

A company spokesman said: “It’s a matter that has been a constant concern to the industry and unions, and one we’ve been engaged in with governments on various levels.”

Ms Wood said the Labour-led Welsh government should convene an emergency task force and to protect a “crucial part of Wales’s economy.”

She said: “The government has a duty to protect Wales’s economy and to protect industry, and no option should be off the table as we try to do that.

“The Welsh government could temporarily nationalise parts of the industry to protect workers.” Speaking on BBC Radio Wales yesterday, First Minister Carwyn Jones insisted that was not a viable option because of the “huge” cost.

He said instead that it was down to the Westminster government to help industry cope with “phenomenally high” energy costs.

“We can help the company but what we can’t do is take a stake, the expense is huge,” he said.

“We can put money on the table but there needs to be help from the UK government.”

But Ms Wood accused Mr Jones of dismissing nationalisation “without even considering it,” saying it left him out of step with the Labour leadership —Jeremy Corbyn called in November for the part-nationalisation of threatened steel works.

And Ms Wood said: “The Welsh government has the ability to take action but is choosing not to.

“This will be of no comfort to the thousands of steelworkers across Wales who are facing potential redundancy.”

The Welsh government spent £52 million on nationalising Cardiff airport in 2013, which has since seen an increase in passenger numbers.