A BOLTON company which helped rescuers deal with the emotional trauma of the July 7 London bombings will now be helping people across the world.

Pathways Through Trauma Ltd was founded in 2004 by Liz Royle, a former senior welfare officer with Greater Manchester Police.

Based in Egerton, the company specialises in the management of psychological trauma and was formed after Ms Royle spent six years leading a team providing trauma support for police officers.

Ms Royle, who worked on several high-profile cases in the North-west, including the murder of DC Stephen Oake in Manchester, spent three weeks helping those affected by the July London bombings in 2005.

She said: "At the time, it was just me and a few associates, but we have expanded rapidly."

Since then, the business has grown to more than 100 trauma practitioners, providing support to businesses and individuals across the UK and Northern Ireland following incidents such as robberies and assaults, deaths in the workplace and serious accidents Trish Waring, who has joined as operations director, and Ms Royle have now been licensed by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation to provide training for group crisis.

The accreditation means that, as well as being able to provide service anywhere in the world, Pathways Through Trauma is now able to offer accredited training to staff in companies who are at risk of psychological trauma such as the emergency services, security companies and emergency planning officers. Ms Royle said: "Dealing with trauma is a highly specialist area and sadly, many businesses are not getting it right. This is usually due to a lack of awareness but can lead to serious problems for both employees and the company."

"It is an extremely intricate process, and it needs a lot of psychological and psychiatric skill."

Ms Royle said she has plans to make Bolton an internationally recognised name for the work her company does.

"We are now aiming to create a centre of excellence here in the region and raise the standards of care following traumatic events.

"This will have great benefits for businesses as well as the people who work for them.

"Doing the right thing at the right time to the right people is the foundation of trauma response."