A Stourbridge manufacturer is celebrating the best 12 months in its 67-year history after turnover doubled to £2.8 million.

Worcester Presses, which provides mechanical and hydraulic presses and coil processing equipment from its Titan Works factory, said it sold more than 50 machines last year following strong growth in the UK's automotive, aerospace and construction sectors.

It even completed its first export order to the US in 2015, with a reconditioned high-speed press prepared and sent to a customer in Detroit for use in producing riveted aluminium parts.

Bosses at the firm have taken on five new staff to cope with the demand for its services and are looking for even further growth when it exhibits at trade show MACH 2016 in April.

Sales director Russell Hartill said: "We've never seen demand reach this level before, especially in such a short space of time.

"If you think we've more than doubled turnover, you begin to understand the scale of what we've achieved.

"There has been specific interest in our Chin Fong range of presses, with 27 sold since last January.

"Demand has been for the hugely popular GTX range including four state-of-the-art models for nearby automotive suppliers."

Worcester Presses, which now employs 13 people, has beaten off international competition thanks to its ability to customise the machines to suit bespoke configurations.

These are completed by experienced specialists at its 15,000 sq ft workshop in Stourbridge and include new guards, coil handling systems and press monitoring - all designed to optimise performance or accommodate more complex tooling.