Indian conglomerate Tata has signed a letter of intent to start exclusive talks to sell its Yorkshire-based speciality steel business to Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty group for £100m.

The agreement will give certainty to workers at the plants in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Brinsworth who produce steels used in the automotive, aerospace and oil and gas sectors.

Almost twice that number of jobs in the supply chain depend on the business, and staff working in these businesses will gain clarity over their future with the deal.

Tata put its entire UK steel business up for sale in the spring as a combination of high energy costs, global overcapacity and China dumping subsidised steel on the market brought the industry to its knees.