A SHOWER manufacturer is moving production from China to County Durham because it is more cost effective.

Roman Limited said that production of bath screens and shower enclosures by its sister company Haven would be moved to the firms Newton Aycliffe headquarters.

It comes as the fluctuations in the pound, coupled with the increased cost of importing the goods and the fact production lines for Roman's ranges are already in place, mean it actually costs less to produce the Haven products in the UK.

Roman said that due to a rapid growth in demand for Haven products, moving the manufacture in-house to County Durham now made financial sense.

Although initially no jobs will be created extra staff could be taken on at a later date if all goes well.

Roman, which produces high-end bathroom fixtures, set up Haven in 2006 to produce lower cost products, although its designers worked on the sister firm's range.

At that time manufacture took place in China so that they could be competitively priced. They will now be produced alongside Roman branded shower enclosures and bath screens.

Roman Group Managing Director, David Osborne said: "Being a British designer and manufacturer is very important to us as a company. Therefore we are extremely please to be able to move the manufacture of all Haven products into the main factory in Newton Aycliffe.

"Due to the current market conditions and the popularity of the Haven products, we are now able to make the move and bring the manufacture of these products in house.

"We have stringent quality control measures for all our products and this will now be applicable to all the Haven enclosures and bath screens."