A ROSETTE manufacturer declared 'there aren’t enough hours in the day' after the snap General Election generated his firm an influx of orders.

David Wallace, who runs Rosettes Direct in Oswaldtwistle said his firm had produced more than 25,000 rosettes since Prime Minister Theresa May announced Britain would be heading to the polls on June 8.

The York Street firm said it normally has three months to prepare for a political scramble such as this, but the timing of the latest battle announcement had left them with a three week deadline.

Mr Wallace, the company's director, said: "When we heard the news it was a mixture of OMG how are we going to do this and elation at the same time.

“It's a case of no pain, no gain.

"Everybody has risen to the challenge and we are getting through the orders on time.

"We like to think we’re the come to company when there is an election and we have produced in excess of 25,000 rosettes across all the political parties.

"We are traditionally busy during this time of the year, so to have the extra challenge to produce more stock is exciting."

The company has hired more staff from across East Lancashire to join their 58 strong team.

The handmade badges take up to 15 minutes to be made and cost the company around £1.20 to manufacture from locally sourced products.

The 49 year-old said: "Some days there just aren’t enough hours in the day, as each rosette is individually made.

"It’s down to humans to make the rosettes, pack them and ship them.

"We have had an enquiry from an independent candidate wanting rosettes in bright pink, which proves to us that people are out there campaigning with all colours of the rainbow."

The company's owner said they often took orders for the bigger political parties through distribution centres, with regional candidates and smaller parties tending to order through their online store.

The company have yet to run into supply issues but have increased their ribbon delivery to twice a week and are taking extra care with key colours to ensure they can meet deadlines.

On top of the political demand the company are still meeting deadlines for clients ordering rosettes for flowers, horse and agricultural shows.

Mr Wallace met the Queen and Prince Phillip at Windsor Horse show on May 14, when Rosettes Direct supplied the winning favours.

He added he was thrilled to have indirectly presented the Queen with one of his rosettes when her horse won the one of the shows events.