The work of a Darwen mattress recycling business has been hailed.

Ian Jillings, owner of Green Sleep based in Moorside Mill, Dewhurst Street, now has big ambitions for the future.

The firm will launch a new advertising campaign soon.

Mr Jillings used to work in the plastics industry, until one day he visited a mattress making company who questioned what they could do to recycle their plastic responsibly.

He realised there was a gap in the market to do something more eco-friendly with mattresses, rather than sending them to landfill or incineration and in 2017 set up Green Sleep.

Only one of six businesses in Great Britain which recycles mattresses, it receives them from local authorities, manufacturers and large hotel chains.

Every week, 1,500 mattresses are delivered to Green Sleep's warehouse and the company’s 14 employees get to work.

The firm has developed a way of refurbishing and reusing mattresses to create an environmentally-friendly model.

Those that come in that only need a deep clean can go through a sanitising process and be as good as new.

Others with slight wear and tear can be broken down, so the components in good condition can be matched up and weaved together with others, using a special manufacturing machine.

Reusing mattresses in this way is called closed-loop recycling where the product in its original form is recycled again and again to extend its life.

The nearly-new mattresses are sold to the public at lower prices than new ones off the shelf.

Cllr Phil Riley, the leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "It’s fantastic to see a local company leading the way in terms of sustainability.

"We need more companies to take Green Sleep’s lead and find ways of recycling and reusing items that would otherwise be deemed for landfill."

To find out more about Green Sleep you can call 01254 264 902.