Trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers has urged steel company Corus to "think again" over its decision to axe 6,050 UK jobs.

Byers issued a statement saying "Corus should think again about closures and work with the trade unions, the government and the Welsh Assembly to find a better way forward than they are currently proposing."

Union leaders and politicians have reacted with anger at the announcement on Thursday of massive job cuts by the UK's biggest steel maker.

Downing Street yesterday expressed "fury" at the move which will see jobs cuts in England and Wales.

Byers said the news was a "bitter blow". In a sign of growing alarm at the DTI's handling of the affair, the Cabinet Office has been called in to handle the government's response.

The company blamed a lack of demand for steel and the weak euro for the losses.

Corus chairman Sir Brian Moffat told the government just shortly before an announcement was made to the stock market at 9.00am - the same time as the company's workforce learned their fate.

"The radical measures announced today will significantly improve the group's competitiveness and are crucial to the future of Corus's employees, customers and shareholders. However it is with deep regret that despite the support and commendable track record of our UK workforce, further significant job reductions have to take place," he said.

Labour MP Denis MacShane issued a blistering attack on Moffat. Said MacShane: "He will blame the weak euro, the lack of UK demand for steel, and the government's climate change levy - anything other than a style of company leadership which has no place in a new century."

The MP added that the company had rejected government offers of assistance. "It remains the last great dinosaur from the privatisation ideology of the Thatcher years. Unlike other major British firms such as BT, BA or the aerospace and car companies, which have sought out win-win partnership relationships with government and unions, Corus has stood fast on its divine right to manage without reference to other stake-holders in the steel communities. Downing Street and the DTI have offered financial packages to help Corus through its cash-flow crisis but the offers have been spurned by a management that believes it always knows better," he said.

Wales will suffer the largest losses with 1,340 redundancies at Llanwern, near Newport. There will be 1,340 job losses in the town and a further 780 at Ebbw Vale. Job losses at Shotton, Bryngwyn and on Teeside are also expected which, along with cuts within other parts of the country, brings the total to 6,050.

The Welsh economic development minister, Michael German, says the decision will hit Wales hard. "This is a hammer blow for Wales. The company has delivered a massive blow to the heart of many Welsh steel workers who have given a fantastic service to that company," he said.

Neil Kinnock, the European commissioner, has accused Corus of acting in an insensitive manner. "Corus has drip-fed the media over many months and that's added to the anguish and anxiety," he said.

However, the Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion, Simon Thomas has said that while Corus is wielding the axe, "New Labour cast the death sentence." He blamed Labour's lack of clarity on the euro and its refusal to implement varying regional fiscal policies as the cause of widescale job losses throughout the manufacturing industry.