Thin steel strip (11) is passed through a pinch roll stand (12) comprising pinch rolls (13) to a rolling mill (16) comprising a pair of work rolls (17) and upper and lower backing rolls (18). Strip (11) passes through the bite between work rolls (17) and strip squeezing forces are applied between the work rolls to reduce the thickness of the strip. Pinch rolls (13) apply tension to the strip passing to the work rolls (17). In order to minimize generation of crimping defects in the strip, the tension applied by the nip rolls (13) is high enough to ensure no part of the strip entering the work rolls is in longitudinal compression such as to exceed the buckling stress of the strip. The applied tension is sufficiently low as to produce no more than 1% strip elongation through creep. The strip may be hot rolled by work rolls (17) at a temperature in the range 700°C-1200°C.