A PAIR of Preston business-brains are launching an invention they say will revolutionise mobile phones.

Darren Mercer and Stephen Kear put their heads together and came up with the device which they say cuts down on the amount of radiation from a mobile phone.

They have spent a third of a million pounds developing it, and are set to produce thousands of prototypes to show to high street stores.

They hope to have it on the shelves by Christmas.

Darren, 38, leisure manager at Preston's Marriott Hotel, said: "My brother-in-law, Stephen, came to me with this idea.

"He used his mobile phone a lot for work purposes and he always got a headache from the phone being next to his ear. He came up with this idea of a bit of a straw on the end of the ear piece. You could hear the sound through the straw."

The invention works like a stethoscope, transmitting sound to and from a phone without electronic parts.

Darren, who lives in Fulwood, said: "By taking the ear piece away from your ear we could eliminate this radiation problem, and by using the straw or a tube you could still hear the sounds."

Now Preston's Matalan supremo John Hargreaves has agreed to fund the invention.

Darren, 38, said: "It needs to be on the shelves in major stores by Christmas. We are hoping that with the support of John Hargreaves we are going to achieve that."