An award-winning Walsall saddlemakers’ future in the town has been saved – after planners gave bosses permission to expand the firm and double its jobs.

Bosses had warned that Patrick Saddlery could be forced to move out of the town if its expansion plans were thrown out.

An application to demolish garages and build a new two-storey workshop at the site, on the corner of Box Street and Bank Street, had been recommended for refusal by planning officers who claimed it would be out of keeping with the rest of the street. But councillors at last night’s development control committee meeting approved the application to show support for small businesses.

Company boss Patrick Keane, said the firm had been offered big workloads from America but needed bigger premises to cope with the demand.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Keane said: “The saddle trade is like any other trade at the moment and it’s going through hard times.”