Chinese firm Jingye Group has said it will complete its £50 million takeover of British Steel next week, saving more than 3,000 jobs.

British Steel was put into liquidation last year and talks have been ongoing to secure the sale with the Chinese steelmaker.

The announcement was hailed by Business Secretary Alok Sharma as a significant milestone in securing British Steel's future, after it was placed into liquidation in May last year.

Part of the deal is the sale of the business and assets of Workington's TSP Engineering, a wholly-owned subsidiary of British Steel, which operates as a standalone company.

It announced yesterday that it had secured a £1 million contract with one of the largest science and technology research facilities in the world, being built in Sweden.

John Coughlan, chief executive of TSP Engineering, said: "The purchase is welcomed by the business and the business will continue to trade under the name TSP Engineering

Jingye will also acquire steelworks at Scunthorpe and mills at Teesside Beam Mill and Skinningrove, as well as subsidiary business FN Steel.

Union Unite welcomed the announcement.

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: “Unite’s members at British Steel will be feeling a sense of relief today that the deal has finally been confirmed.

“The lives of the affected workers and their families have effectively been on hold for 10 months since the company went into compulsory liquidation.

“Some hard decisions have had to be made in order to ensure the deal went through. Jingye’s offer was the only one which guaranteed the continuing operation of the blast furnace which was essential to the company’s long-term future.

“While the Government has played a crucial part in ensuring that a buyer for British Steel was found its role must not end here.

“It is essential that dramatic action is taken to ensure the long-term future of UK steel production.

“Public procurement rules must be introduced to ensure that UK steel, alongside other UK manufactured products, is always sourced to support public sector procurement projects, including HS2, new hospitals and other infrastructure projects, our Royal Naval ships and when purchasing new rolling stock for our railways.

“It is also imperative that the Government creates a level playing field for UK steel by examining extortionate charges for energy and business rates, in order to allow UK steel to properly compete with steel being produced in Europe and further afield.”