A WORLD-FAMOUS inventor who became one of Blackburn's richest men has left a £10million donation to help British engineering and science research.

Multi-millionaire Netlon founder Dr Brian Mercer, who died aged 70 in 1998, made the bequest in his will to the Royal Society.

The donation includes a rare portrait of Dr Mercer by artist and close friend Salvador Dali, painted in 1973.

Dr Mercer was made a fellow of the Royal Society - which promotes the sciences - for his work in developing the revolutionary plastic mesh Netlon.

His career began in the carpet industry when he built a machine at his parent's textile mill at Mill Hill and launched the tufting industry in the town, which went on to employ thousands of people in its heyday.

But it was his development of Netlon that was to make him famous around the world. Dr Mercer invented the revolutionary plastic mesh in 1959 and it is now produced under licence in dozens of factories across the globe.

He developed the 'wonder-net' after noticing the way mashed potato emerged after going through a mincer at home.

The new netting made a huge impact on industries, including civil engineering, horticulture and agriculture.

Netlon and Tensar, another type of mesh invented by Dr Mercer, are now used in hundreds of different forms, from garden fencing and packaging to racecourse turf and anti-dazzle fencing for motorways.

Dr Mercer retired five years ago after selling his multi-million pound firm to a team of directors, who pledged to keep it based in Blackburn. The Netlon factories at Mill Hill and Shadsworth still employ almost 300 people in the Blackburn area. Dr Mercer, of Meins Road, Blackburn, was awarded the OBE in 1980, and won many other awards over the years, including the Queen's Award and the Prince Philip Award for Plastics in the Service of Man.

His work took him all over the world and he met many famous people, including Salvador Dali, who became a close friend.

Dr Mercer lived in Bermuda after his retirement and spent much of his spare time sailing his yacht. He was a former pupil of St Silas School, QEGS and was a head chorister at St Silas Church, Blackburn.

He leaves his sister, Olga, nephews John, Richard and Philip, and niece Jane.

The portrait of Dr Mercer - acclaimed as the best the artist had ever done - will hang in the Royal Society's headquarters alongside distinguished scientists including Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren, Charles Darwin and Michael Faraday.

It is the biggest-ever bequest received by the society.

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