A regional daily’s bid to save hundreds of jobs threatened by a steelworks’ closure has won political praise.

The Leader, which runs three editions covering Chester and North Wales, has handed over a petition signed by thousands of readers lobbying Westminster and Cardiff decision makers to ensure Tata’s Shotton steel plant is guaranteed a future.

More than 700 jobs are still under threat after the Indian conglomerate announced almost six months ago that it was considering selling off its UK assets.

The petition has now been handed over to Welsh Assembly members Ken Skates and Carl Sargeant, and Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami, at The Leader’s Mold office.

From left: Mark Tami, Ken Skates, Leader reporter David Humphreys and Carl Sargeant

Mr Sargeant, who represents the same constituency in the Welsh Assembly, said: “I think the Leader campaign getting behind the politicians, trade unions and staff was very powerful.

“The message it sent and the profile it got across the whole of Wales and I don’t think without the front pages and the constant news profiles of Shotton, we would have had the same impact on hopefully the UK and Welsh Governments taking a strong voice from this area to reconsider the future of Shotton.”

Mr Tami added: “I think it also demonstrated there was a fight there to save it because when the announcement first came it was all a bit, doom and destruction, things weren’t looking very good.

“One of the key points was that the national coverage described it as a loss making business but Shotton is a profitable plant and that was a very important point to get across because we just had that focus so much on Port Talbot and all the evidence was based on how that was doing, not taking in to account Shotton and the other plants.”

Reporter David Humphreys covers the Deeside patch for the Leader newspaper within which Shotton falls.

He said: “It was made clear to me by the community when I first started just how important the steel works is to the people of Shotton and Flintshire as a county.

“As a community newspaper, I believe it is our duty to stand up for our readers and as soon as we found out about the potential for such devastating job losses that could blight the community once again, it made sense for us to take action.

“It has been an honour to work alongside these politicians and the wider community to do our bit in ensuring a future for Shotton steelworks.”