A BURNLEY firm has created a staircase in one of London’s most iconic buildings.

AIM Applications were called in by contractors who had been tasked with building a staircase leading up the Golden Gallery at St Paul’s Cathedral.

They had to build a helical staircase, which is a staircase without a central pole, at their base in Burnley Road, Briercliffe, before fitting it at the cathedral.

Andrew Mackrell, managing director, said: “We were sub-contracted to do the work by the other contractor, I’m not sure if they could not do it or did not want to do it.

“It wasn’t really difficult to make but fitting it was a problem.

“You can’t make a mistake in a building like that and we had to get the structure up through a tiny gap.”

Engineers at the firm spent four weeks making the staircase and another week fitting it in London.

They had to fit the staircase during the night as the cathedral was in use during the day.

Mr Mackrell said: “It is not the biggest job we have ever done but it is the most prestigious.

“It is such a well-known landmark that it is great to think we were involved in constructing that staircase.”

The Golden Gallery runs around the highest point of the outer done, 280ft above the ground, and is the highest point that members of the public are allowed in the building.

Visitors must climb 528 steps to reach the gallery. A spokeswoman for St Paul’s Cathedral said that around 800,000 people a year visited the cathedral, many of whom climb up the staircase to the Golden Gallery.