Twin roll caster (11) produces cast steel strip (12) that passes in a transit path (10) through pinch roll stand (14) and optional hot rolling mill (15) and runout table (17) to a coiling station (19) which has a pair of switchable coilers (85, 86). A strip shear (81) located in advance of the coiling station is operable to sever strip (12) into discrete lengths which can be diverted by setting deflectors (82, 84) to allow the severed lengths to pass across a runout table (83) to a scrap bin (87). The strip may be thus severed and diverted to scrap on development of strip defects or malfunctioning of equipment without stopping continuous casting and the strip redirected to the coiling station when the problem is rectified.