AN IPSWICH inventor will be pitching his latest idea in the Dragons' Den on the BBC hit show tonight.

AN IPSWICH inventor will be pitching his latest idea in the Dragons' Den on the BBC hit show tonight.

Michael Pritchard, who runs LIFESAVER Systems, will be presenting his invention of the 'Anyway' spray on the programme.

He first thought of the idea for the product in his kitchen after becoming frustrated with aerosols which would not work unless they were held in an upright position.

His invention allows people to replace the inner tube of their spray or can with his specially designed product, and this enables the spray to still function at any angle.

Mr Pritchard, who has also invented a filtration water bottle called the LIFESAVER which is now in widespread use, said: “I was using a household cleaner at the time and it struck me as ridiculous that the spray stopped working if it was upside down or at an angle.

“I identified that the fault lay with the dip (inner) tube and the fact it only had one hole and so set about trying to find the answer.”

His solution lay in the invention of a new dip tube, which has millions of holes, and means that as long as any part of the tube is in contact with the liquid, a constant spray will be maintained until the very last drop.

Mr Pritchard, 42, whose business is based in Tuddenham Avenue, thought long and hard about going on the programme but felt that if he succeeded, access to a Dragon's address book combined with the money and publicity were too much of a draw to ignore.

He said: “I did prepare a lot because I have seen too many episodes where people have not given them the respect they deserve. It is not a normal negotiation process. They either give you the thumbs up or the thumbs down.

“I knew what my position was and I wanted to make sure I respected the questions they were asking.”

To see how he does, watch the show on BBC2 at 9pm tonight.