A new factory has been opened in Malvern by Permadoor, the UK's leading maker of thermoplastic composite doors.

The 33,000 sq ft premises, on the Spring Lane Industrial Estate, is three time the size of the one it replaces in Tewkesbury.

The extra space, together with modern manufacturing machinery worth more than £500,000, gives it the capacity to produce 80,000 doors a year.

Permadoor, whose head office is in Upton-upon-Severn, also has two smaller manufacturing sites at Upton and on the Enigma Business Park in Malvern.

Staff from Tewkesbury have already transferred to the new Malvern factory, taking the number of employees across the remaining three sites to 139. This could increase significantly, as demand for the firm's products continues to grow.

General manager Tim Roome said: "The new factory is state-of-the-art and equipped to meet demands now and in the future. This is great news for Permadoor and for Malvern."

Permadoor was established in 1989 and has more than 14 years' experience working with local authorities, housing associations and builders' merchants supplying made-to-measure, low-maintenance exterior doors to the social housing market.

With the Government's recent introduction of new standards for social housing, demand looks set to increase over the next few years.

The Malvern factory was being officially opened today (Friday) by West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer.