SIGNS named after a Greek sun god could point the way to untold riches for a North Yorkshire firm.

Peter White, chief executive of Forge The Signmakers, based in Scarborough, posed among some of the more than 1,000 BP Helios signs being produced by the company.

The Helios signs, named after the sun god, are a crucial part of the new BP image which is emerging on petrol forecourts in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Forge is not only producing the signs but providing teams to install and commission them. Steve Martin, Forge's marketing director was reluctant to talk about the value of the contract - but clearly it was going to make a good contribution towards his company's projected £7 million turnover at the end of this financial year.

But he did reveal that the production process of the signs was complicated.

"They are made out of cast acrylic clear plastic, decorated on the inside and then moulded. With the colour inside it is shielded from harmful ultra violet rays.

"Even sun gods have to be protected from the sun."