Fifty jobs are being created at a Worcestershire firm which has secured its future by linking up with a fellow manufacturer.

Lewis Spring Products has been involved in making springs and pressings for nearly 80 years.

The company was facing tough competition from overseas and reduced orders at home but has now secured its future following a link up with Pre-Met, another manufacturer based in Kent.

The amalgamated company, which will be called Pre-Met, is now seeking to take on extra toolmakers, welders and machine operators at its Redditch site.

Operations director John Gudgeon said: "We were seeing a reduction in orders.

"Some of the orders were going to the lowest cost producers, and we needed to move quickly.

"We found a company in southern England who had very different demands on their business.

"They make similar products to Lewis Spring Products, but their customer base was in the automotive sector and predominantly overseas.

"They have a full order book but they were running out of capacity. They couldn't expand and couldn't find good skilled people."

Mr Gudgeon said: "It's a perfect marriage really. Redditch and the West Midlands have a proud tradition of high quality toolmaking and Lewis Spring has been involved in that tradition right from the start.

"We have excess production capacity and access to some of the best skilled people in the country, right here on our doorstep. This amalgamation secures the future of all employees in Redditch and puts us in a strong position to win future orders."