FORMER employees of Kidderminster carpet companies based at Mill Street site are being urged to meet up with their old workmates at a reunion being held next week.

Anyone who worked for Carpet Trades, Gilt Edge or Carpets International will be welcomed to the get-together being held at The Gilt Edge Club, Zortech Avenue, Oldington in Kidderminster on Wednesday.

The aim of the evening, which gets under way at 7.30pm, is to swap memories and nostalgia in a relaxed and sociable atmosphere. One highlight will be the showing of a video of Carpet Trades during the 1960s.

The event has been arranged by the Friends of the Carpet Museum Trust, which will be displaying an extensive collection of photographs of the company, in its various incarnations.

Ex-employees are also being invited to take along their own photographs and memorabilia, to spark more memories.

Friends' trust chairman, Melvyn Thompson, who served an engineering apprenticeship with Carpet Trades in the early 1950s and went on to complete more than 25 years with the company, is among the reunion organisers.

He said: "In the 1950s and 60s, more than 12,000 people worked in the town's carpet factories. Carpet Trades was one of the largest and there are still many around today who remember those boom years after the war.

"We want people to enjoy themselves. We have planned a good evening of nostalgia that will appeal to all those who worked at the Mill Street factory."

Carpet Trades was founded in 1920, growing to the extent that, by the Second World War, it was one of the industry's leading firms.

Entire families worked in it during the post-war boom period, with more than 2,000 people clocking on at the Mill Street factory.

In 1953, Carpet Trades joined forces with John Crossley & Sons, of Halifax, to form Gilt Edge Carpets. Two years later, the name changed again, as Carpets International was established, following a merger with the Carpet Manufacturing Company.

Although the new company prospered for several years, it began to decline in the 1980s. Following several takeovers, the firm failed and the Mill Street factory closed its gates for the final time in 1990.

Mr Thompson added that there had already been a good response from former employees keen to attend. He urged anyone who wanted to be present to contact him - on 01562 67077 - to confirm their attendance, to enable him to make arrangements for seating and refreshments.

He hopes to organise similar events for former employees of other Wyre Forest carpet companies.