Nearly 190 employees and self-employed workers – far more than at first feared – have been hit by the collapse of a Keighley firm which made decorations for shopping malls, it has been revealed.

Staff at Fuzzwire, in Aireworth Road, were told last Tuesday that their jobs had gone and that the business would go into administration.

But there is a glimmer of hope, as it was announced that Fuzzwire’s contracts had been assigned to an Austrian-owned group which operates across Europe and which could create new jobs.

Andrew Sheridan and Phil Pierce, of restructuring and advisory firm FRP Advisory, were appointed joint administrators to the stricken firm on Friday.

They said 65 full-time workers and 44 part-time staff were made redundant, and that 78 self-employed workers who helped with the installation of decorations were also affected.

Keighley MP Kris Hopkins said he would contact government departments this week to see what could be done to assist those who lost their jobs.

“At the moment I don’t know the circumstances behind the business’s failure,” he added. “People losing their jobs at any time is bad news, but for this to happen at Christmas as well is terrible.”

* For more comment and reaction, see this week’s Keighley News – out on Christmas Eve.