Up to 50 new jobs are being created in Maryport in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Doors and windows company West Port has taken on 35 new recruits and is looking for between 10 and 15 more after an increase in demand for fire doors following the disastrous blaze in London.

Managing director Sean Parnaby said local authorities throughout the country were assessing all their buildings for fire risk and are taking extra precautions after the tower block fire in which it is believed around 80 people died.

He said the company's production of fire doors is about 25 per cent up.

"We are also looking to import machinery from Denmark to help increase that production further" he added.

Mr Parnaby said he expects many of the extra workers to be retained.

"We take people on on temporary contracts which can then lead to permanent jobs.

"Although we have had to respond to the demand for fire doors, our other business is also increasing, which means we need workers."

The company employs 170 people in Maryport, all resident in West Cumbria.

"We have four people down South but they work from home. We also have two sales teams now."

He said West Port had come through the recession well and was now looking at further expansion down the line but was determined to stay in Maryport.

Mr Parnaby, who is president of the British Woodworking Federation, said: "A couple of years ago we were looking to expand. We did look at the Cumbrian Seafoods factory which was not suitable. We were told then, by Allerdale planners, that we would should consider moving to Lillyhall. I was not prepared to leave Maryport then and I am not now."

He is concerned about the implications of plans to build housing on the side of the former factory.

He said industrial units do often lie empty for some years but eventually come into use again.

He added: "The danger here is that if unoccupied buildings are taken up by housing, Maryport will soon have no industrial estate - and that will move businesses out of the town."