A Keighley company is helping to save lives across the globe.

Yoko Ltd manufactures a revolutionary bonnet which is designed to make life more comfortable for premature babies. Demand for the bonnet is so high that the firm is now manufacturing 6,000 of the hats every month - more than twice its production capacity. By the end of this month the firm will be pushing production up to 10,000 a month.

Yoko Ltd, of Mantra House in South Street, which employs eight machinists, will also be adding at least four new staff members to cope with the increase in demand.

The bonnet is the brainchild of Gioconda Roberts, who set up the firm in February 2000.

She said: "The old design of bonnet - which has to have a tube and two wires attached to enable the babies to breathe - kept coming off the babies' heads.

"When not fixed properly, it could even damage a premature baby's nose.

"This bonnet solves these problems. We are able to balance the tube and wires so the bonnet always stays in place and no damage is ever done to a baby's head."

The traditional bonnet design, which resembled a small hat, also had to be taken off before a baby could be given a scan. The Yoko design covers less of the baby's head, enabling scans to be given with the bonnet still in place.

"Feedback has been tremendous," said Gioconda. "As well as selling to hospitals across Britain, we export throughout Europe, north and south America, Mexico and Japan. Baby units just don't seem able to get enough of them."

Soon she hopes to start selling the bonnets to the developing world.

Gioconda, who comes from Nicaragua, had the idea for the bonnets while she was studying civil engineering at the University of Bradford.

She said: "I had a friend who worked in a premature-baby unit who was always telling me about the problems they were having. We just sat down together and came up with the design."