A COMPANY has unveiled a new wallpaper product that is set to revolutionise the world of DIY.

After three years of research and £2million of investment, Speciality Coatings has produced Wonderwall - a new self-adhesive wall-covering.

Promising no water, no paste and no mess, Wonderwall is destined to put Darwen's wallpaper industry back on the world map.

Sales and marketing boss Barry Digwood says it will be a world-beater with patents lodged throughout Europe and the USA.

And according to trade journal Home Decor, the no-hassle technology will appeal to younger consumers with no experience of wallpapering.

Said editor Christina Gregory: "Retailers have been crying out for something new in wall-coverings to capture the lost generation of 20 to 30-year-olds."

Mr Digwood said Speciality Coatings had invested heavily in research and development into the right blend of adhesives for Wonderwall.

The paper had a pressure-sensitive adhesive coating that allowed it to be repositioned as many times as necessary. When the paper was in the correct place, additional pressure from a special tool made sure it stayed in place.

Speciality Coatings is selling the technology to companies throughout the world and the first manufacturer to bring Wonderwall to DIY stores is Country Decor, which is marketing the product under its Utopia brand.

Speciality Coatings has been based in Darwen for 15 years and supplies the wall-covering industry with vinyl-coated paper and plastisol, the material that puts the bumps into blown vinyl. With an annual turnover of £45million, the company exports to more than 40 countries and its customers include Graham and Brown, Vymura and Colorol.

The company employs 100 people at its sites at Dewhurst Street, Darwen, and Altham, and a further 50 overseas at its plants in Toronto, Canada, and Virginia, USA.