ANSA reported that prosecutors in the city of Taranto on Monday issued a European arrest warrant for Mr Fabio Riva, an executive of the ILVA steel plant at the center of an environmental dispute between local prosecutors and the national government.

The warrant was issued after prosecutors in the city, host to the steel plant, said that Riva has been sought since November 26 as part of criminal probe into an environmental scandal at the facility that saw several top managers arrested.

Lawyers for Riva previously delivered a letter to Taranto prosecutors by the defendant in which he wrote on November 27 that he was in the UK and that he would put himself at the local authorities' "disposition".

On Friday, the Italian government approved a decree that aims to make it possible to keep the troubled plant operating while a clean-up operation takes place. The decree was passed by the cabinet after the company said earlier last week that the plant risked "imminent" closure due to the criminal investigation.