A scent, based on perfume oils rescued from the Titanic, has been conjured up by scientists and perfumers working for a British firm.

Test samples are to be released within the next few weeks to get the reaction of the Press and public.

The new scent has been concocted from bottles brought up from the liner, which sunk 90 years ago next month .

Keighley-born diver Graham Jessop was among the team which retrieved the oils last year.

He is recovery manager for RMS Titanic, the company responsible for the preservation of the ship.

Quest International of Ashford, Kent, a fragrance design company, hopes to have the perfume on the market in this anniversary year.

Press officer Linda Harman said a perfume had been manufactured and samples were to be sent out to be tested by the public and Press. They had the original oils and the aim was to capture the fragrance and romance of the Edwardian era in which the liner sank.

She said within the next three weeks a scent would be released for people to sample, to see if they had got it right.

The Titanic sank in April 1912 after hitting an iceberg near Newfoundland, with the loss of 1,513 people out of its 2,220 passengers and crew.

The glass phials and leather satchel the oils were contained in have been preserved.

The satchel was originally owned by Adolphe Saalfeld, a German, who lost it as he jumped into a lifeboat containing women and children.

He had been travelling in first class, hoping to make his fortune in New York.

But it is understood he destroyed his career by saving himself. The public took a dim view of men who had not gone down with the ship but survived in boats designated for women and children.