WORKERS from a Newcastle bed manufacturer are stripping hundreds of mattresses from one of the most famous ships to be made on the Tyne.

The Navy does not want to waste the furnishings on HMS Ark Royal which has been decommissioned after a quarter century of service and has hired Palatine Beds to refurbish the mattresses from its 600 beds before sending them back to stores.

Andrew Waters, sales and marketing manager of Palatine Beds said: “It is a huge honour to be awarded this contract. The Ark Royal was built on Tyneside, so while it is extremely sad that such a great ship will no longer be in service, we are proud to be a part of the decommissioning process.

The aircraft carrier, which was made by Swan Hunter in Wallsend in 1978, and went into service in 1985 and was used in action around the world before it was decommissioned in November as part of the Government’s defence spending cuts.

Palatine, which is nearly 100 years old, is part of Newcastle City Council and works with Your Homes Newcastle and public sector groups to offer work to people with disablities who comprise 70% of its workforce.