'Negligence' is to blame for the collapse of a steel business with a premises in Bolton, a steelworkers' union claimed.

Aartee Bright Bar, which says it is the UK's largest distributor of engineering steel products, called in administrators Alvarex & Marsal (A&M) this week in the face of a 'challenging economic environment' and 'fluctuating steel prices'.

A steelworkers' union, Community, hit out at the Government for its failure to act over issues such as energy costs.

Aartee Bright Bar has around 250 workers at its premises in Farnworth, as well as in offices in Newport, Wales and Rugby, Warwickshire and production sites in Dudley and Willenhall, both of which are in the West Midlands.

It is not known whether there is an impact in terms of job losses for these workers.

Michael Magnay, joint administrator at A&M, said: "Like many businesses in its sector, Aartee Bright Bar has been facing significant headwinds as a result of the challenging economic environment and fluctuating steel prices.

"Against this backdrop, administrators have been appointed and we are exploring the options available to preserve value."

Alun Davies, national officer for Community, said: “The news of Aartee Bright Bar crashing into administration is extremely worrying.

"All parties must do whatever it takes to protect the workforce in this difficult process.

"These developments demonstrate the extreme pressures the industry is under.

"This is the price of Government’s negligence and its failure to act on issues like energy costs and procurement."

The news follows reports last week that British Steel is planning to axe hundreds of jobs as part of closures of its coke ovens in Scunthorpe, according to a union source.

The Government is reportedly considering cash injections into both British Steel and Tata Steel UK.

But Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, national officer at the GMB Union, said this investment was a “sticking plaster that does nothing to help the long-term structural issues affecting our steel industry”.

She added that the steel industry could “wither and die like so much of our proud manufacturing heritage” without meaningful support.

Furthermore, Liberty Steel revealed last month it was implementing the next stage of its restructuring programme which could affect up to 440 jobs.

The firm said it needed to refocus its operations in order to adapt quickly to the challenging market.

Liberty Steel, headed up by Sanjeev Gupta, counts Aartee Bright Bar as one of its customers, according to reports.

There are more than 33,000 people directly employed by Britain’s steel industry and a further 40,000 working in the steel supply chain, Community said.

Britain’s steel industry will be worth £6 billion by 2030.