CORUS workers at the doomed Ebbw Vale steel plant say plans for a lottery to choose who should grab an extra three months work there after it closes are insulting.

The plant is due to close completely in July but decommissioning will last until October. Corus has been swamped with 450 applications for the 24 jobs on offer and say it is impossible to decide who should be the lucky ones.

It therefore plans to draw names out of a hat from a list of workers who have impeccable attendance records.

But some workers say this is an insult - even though the scheme has been endorsed by their representatives on the works council.

Workers who have spoken out say they are afraid to identify themselves because they fear jeopardising their redundancy payments.

Corus announced the closure of Ebbw Vale earlier this year along with over 1,300 job losses and the ending of steelmaking at Llanwern in Newport.

"We are absolutely furious," one Ebbw Vale steelworker said. "The company is heaping insult upon insult and it is completely demeaning. It is very hard for us, particularly based on the criteria they are laying down, and we are really angry.

"The workers feel they no longer have a voice and are being persecuted for losing their jobs.

"There are better ways for Corus to deal with this than treating us like commodities rather than people."

A letter to workers signed by plant manager Stuart Wilkie for Corus and David Davies for the works council, says the names will be randomly selected today at a meeting between Mr Wilkie and the works council.

But Mr Davies told the Argus this was only a proposal and if any union wanted to object, their reservations would be considered before a decision was made.

"It is only an option," he said. "Almost everyone applying would have the qualifications and the quality required. It will be difficult to choose."

A Corus spokesman said: "There has to be some sort of fair selection process. "We have put in a lot of effort with other agencies in trying to secure alternative employment for people this year and are continuing to do so."

To qualify for the draw, workers must have had 100% attendance from August 5 this year, recorded less than one week's absence in the last two years and possess no disciplinary record in the last two years.

Names of workers who do not meet these criteria because of works accidents go into the hat automatically.