A deal to takeover Thamesteel has fallen through in the last 24 hours and a further 20 people have lost their jobs.

Mazars, the administrators for the firm in Brielle Way, Sheerness, had been in discussions with a potential buyer and had been hopeful a sale would be agreed.

But in the last day, problems arose which, according to a spokesman, have made completing a deal "difficult and far less certain".

The steelmill went into administration in January this year and 350 of the workers were made redundant without receiving their month's wages.

Mazars would not be drawn on speculation that the interested party was part of the Al-Tuwairqi Group, which took over the metalworks in 2003.

They would also not comment on the reason the deal has fallen through.

Lead administrator Rod Weston said: "Taking into account the site's considerable current operating costs - in excess of £100k per week - and the fact that a deal is now further away than anticipated, the administrators have no alternative but to move into a further phase of cost reduction.

"This will result in the power down of some of the plant and, sadly, a further 20 redundancies.

"We will provide further updates once the position becomes more clear."