A FORMER taxi driver whose business idea was mocked by judges on a Pop Idol-style BBC programme had the last laugh yesterday by clinching a contract.

A panel of experts on the Dragon's Den programme told Mark Greenhalgh his plan to pioneer the installation of advertising screens in the back of cabs would never work.

Viewers of the show in February saw the panel of tycoons - including Darlington businessman Duncan Bannatyne - ridicule Mr Greenhalgh's idea before refusing to hand over any cash to support his venture.

Now the entrepreneur from Edinburgh has sealed a ground-breaking deal with Strathclyde Police worth more than £500,000 a year.

The tie-up between his media firm, Cabtivate, and the UK's second biggest force will see crime appeals flashed to digital screens in the back of Glasgow taxis. The initiative, which will also be used to help trace missing children, is the first of its kind in Britain.

Mr Greenhalgh, 40, said: "The dragons did not even bother to listen to my idea and were thinking instead about their own egos and trying to launch their media careers.

"Friends are calling me the dragon slayer."