A Bingley firm which made all the doors for London's famous Park Lane Hotel is set to close after more than a century in business.

WR & R Atkinson joiners is expected to close its doors in March because of rising insurance costs, a high number of staff retiring and changing legislation.

Directors Geoff and David Atkinson, pictured, who employ 30 people at Airedale Sawmills in Bradford Road, said they were sorry to have made the difficult decision to shut down the door-manufacturing company.

"We're expecting the premiums due in March this year to have gone up by 300 or 400 per cent and that, along with all the environmental factors, has made it difficult for us to carry on," said Geoff Atkinson, 57, who joined as an apprentice in 1962.

"A number of key members of staff are retiring, some of whom are quality craftsmen, and they would be difficult to replace."

Last month the Telegraph & Argus reported how joiners Lesley Alston and Scott Bailey retired after clocking up a century of service between them.

Mr Atkinson said rules had changed regarding disposal of waste so the firm could no longer burn scrap wood on site, which would in turn fuel the building and furnaces. They were now forced to pay to have it taken away.

"There are just so many European directives we are expected to follow that we feel the time has come to call it an end," said co-director David Atkinson, 64, Geoff's second cousin. "We're also ready to start thinking about retiring ourselves."

The pair said there were several parties interested in buying the company's equipment but the land would be sold.

"We would oversee the change-over for about a year to 18 months and hopefully be able to keep a hand in for a while to ensure quality doors were still being made for our clients," said David Atkinson.

The firm was set up in 1880 by William Rhodes Atkinson at the site of the present fire station in Main Street and employed about 100 people. The business moved after a fire in 1887 to the building in Bradford Road, then known as Milton Mills, and since then it has passed down through four generations of Atkinsons.