DAVID Cameron has agreed to meet MPs representing communities affected by the announcement of plans by Tata Steel to sell its Long Products division, which employs thousands of workers at several sites in the UK.

The Prime Minister said he was "very happy" to hold discussions with the cross-party group of MPs about "this vitally important issue" after being invited to do so by Labour MP Nic Dakin.

Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Mr Dakin, (Scunthorpe) said: "Today Tata has announced that it hopes to sell its Long Products business, including the integrated steel site at Scunthorpe. People are understandably concerned about this.

"Will the Prime Minister meet with myself and the cross-party group of MPs whose communities are affected by this decision to make sure there's a bright future for Long Products steel in the UK, which underpins so much of British manufacturing."

Mr Cameron responded: "Well, I'm very happy to meet with himself and other North Lincolnshire MPs about this vitally important issue. I think what we've seen in the last four years is actually some good developments in the steel industry, not least with the re-opening of Redcar, with what's happened at Port Talbot, but I want to see a strong future for steel making in Scunthorpe."

He added: "I know how important this is, we're engaging both with Tata Steel and with the company that is looking to buy this and we look forward to those discussions and also he will know that we took action in the Budget to try and ease the burden on the energy intensive users.

"We have seen a recovery of manufacturing in this country, particularly through the car industry and obviously we want to see the steel industry as part of that."

The steel giant said it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Klesch Group, an industrial company which operates across Europe.

The planned sale covers several UK-based sites including Tata Steel's Scunthorpe steelworks, mills in Teesside, Dalzell and Clydebridge in Scotland, an engineering workshop in Workington and a rail consultancy in York, as well as other operations in France and Germany.

About 6,500 people are employed at Long Products Europe and its distribution facilities, supplying products for industries including construction and excavation.

Unions said they were disappointed with the way the announcement had been handled and were seeking talks to discuss any impact on jobs.