A bright idea; PUBLIC SECTOR.

BRIGHT North East businessman George Main has uncovered an innovative solution which will allow workers in the waste and recycling industry to skip over a problematic area.

After a series of road traffic incidents, the Government introduced laws in the 1980s which made it a requirement that skips placed on a public highway must be lit at night.

But the flawed and expensive equipment available to light skips since then has led Newcastle-born entrepreneur George Main to develop a brand new product - potentially making the working lives of those in the industry easier.

George Main said: "It makes perfect sense for skips to be lit at night to avoid accidents but the lights that have been used historically are costly, easily damaged and crude in design.

"I heard many stories from skip hire professionals about the lights being vandalised, broken or stolen, which meant they would receive a call from the police in the middle of the night, before having to travel to wherever the skip was located, and fit another very expensive light.

"Also, the old lights take too long to fit, creating a dangerous situation with the fitter standing at the side of the skip with fast moving traffic passing by."

After approaching Design Right Solutions (DRS), a product development company based in Sunderland, George worked with the team to develop a new lowcost light which is secured to skips with an almost unbreakable noose.

Simon Spencer, product designer at DRS, said: "Because we have developed it using a special low voltage LED, the new light will cost less than a third of the price of most that are currently used, they can be fitted in seconds and the robust design means that they will not break and won't be stolen."

Following a ninemonth development process, the device, named Locklite, will soon be commercially available.

CAPTION(S):

LIGHT FANTASTIC - product designer Simon Spencer, left, with entrepreneur George Main