NINETY jobs have been saved after troubled steel stockholders Vernon Stainless were taken over just hours after going into administration.

The business has been bought by Leeds-based ASD plc, which has promised to continue the Blackburn operation, which will now be known as KMS Vernon.

However, as part of restructuring following the buy-out, up to 30 staff will lose their jobs and discussions are now under way with the workforce.

ASD chief executive Martin Joyce, said Vernon Stainless had been in severe financial difficulty for some time: "They had serious cash-flow problems and had been haemorrhaging cash," he said. They had gone into administration and the only other offer on the table would have involved the loss of all the jobs."

Mr Joyce said the business, which also includes sales offices in Leeds, Cambridge, Dudley and Southampton, would remain at Walker Park, Guide, subject to negotiations with the landlords.

The buy-out did not include Blackburn-based Loks Plasma Services and administrators KPMG said they were in talks with a third party with a view to selling the business as a going concern. Loks, which employs 35 people, produces profiles in both stainless steel and other materials, largely for the construction industry.

News of the financial troubles at Vernon Stainless comes just a week after Corus announced it was pulling out of the former Walkersteel site at Guide with the loss of more than 50 jobs. The company -- formerly British Steel -- plans to close its present complex by summer next year and relocate its Multi Products business to a recently-refurbished unit on Walker Park.

Mr Joyce said ASD wanted to safeguard as many jobs as possible, but would have to make between 25 and 30 redundancies. "We are fairly positive we can make this business work," he added. "Unfortunately, we have had to cut our cloth accordingly and reorganisation will mean redundancies."