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With the effectiveness of the equipment used by British troops while out in war zones high on the political agenda, a west Dorset company called Amsafe Bridport has a new invention it hopes could save lives - and also help safeguard local jobs.

They've developed a fabric-based lightweight armour which is placed onto the sides of armoured military vehicles.

The fabric boards, which have been named Tarian ('shield' in Welsh) will replace some of the traditional metal-bar armour.

It's been tested in many different conditions and the Ministry of Defence has said it can withstand attacks from rockets and grenades.

The armoury can be camouflaged

'As light as polystyrene'

Its developers say the main benefits are that the vehicle's camouflage can be changed more quickly because this new armour is much more light, and that extra armour can be easily added elsewhere on the vehicle as required.

Army Major Dick Taylor says: "My job is to say the truth of what I'm seeing, and if I didn't think it would do the job, I wouldn't endorse it.

"I'll be travelling in armoured vehicles like this so I need this protection to be the very best and I assure you it is."

The first tank transporter with the new fabric armour attached, like the Spartan seen in these photographs, has already been sent to Afghanistan.

What exactly Tarian is made of has not been revealed for security reasons.

Developing textile armour is a new product for AmSafe Bridport.

The protective fabric armour

Building on Bridport's traditions

The AmSafe company is a large international organisation with their headquarters in Arizona in the US, but the AmSafe Bridport arm is known locally in Dorset for their work making cargo restraints for aircraft.

They say this new product means more security for their Dorset-based staff.

Neal McKeever from the company says: "The initial contract we have is for supplying  Tarian for the heavy equipment transporters out in operations in Afghanistan.

"The opportunity under consideration with the MOD is to roll out this system onto its fleet of armoured fighting vehicles. Our current assessment of the potential is into several millions of pounds of business over the coming years."

AmSafe Bridport builds on town's long tradition of its rope making industries which stretches back to the 13th Century.

Bridport's prosperity was founded on the making and trading of ropes and nets, and AmSafe Bridport itself grew out of a large manufacturer of these products, who had begun making nets for the aviation industry in the 1960s.