FRUSTRATED inventor Malcolm Doherty has put his family up for sale in an Internet auction.

Mr Doherty was so fed up with his failure to sell his designs to British companies, he put himself, his wife and two sons up for sale to anyone who will help him manufacture his inventions.

The family are prepared to uproot from their home in Darlington and work for anyone in the world who will give the inventions the push they need.

The buyer would also be able to keep 60 per cent of the cash from the inventions. The father-of-two came up with the idea after 30 years' worth of inventions were stored away, collecting dust, when he failed to attract a buyer.

Among the hundreds of ideas that Mr Doherty has designed is a revolutionary sports bag to rid training shoes of smells overnight and a portable machine that guarantees a good-night sleep for asthma and hayfever sufferers.

Mr Doherty, 46, said: "People might think it's desperate to put my whole life up for sale, but I am at the end of my tether.

"If anyone wants us, we are up for sale and we are prepared to go anywhere in the world.

"I've been a designer for nearly 30 years and I have been backed into a corner because I cannot find a buyer for my ideas.

"I've been to all the major companies and told them about my products, but because I'm a one- man business they won't take the risk.

"Advertising on the Internet is a way for me to try to secure my family's future.

"If someone comes to me, I don't care where they are from, if they have a design studio and can put my product on the market, they can have me and my family."

Mr Doherty, with his wife, Mandy, 30, his son Wayne, 16, and youngest son Tony, three, can be seen pictured on the Internet offering themselves as a family to a prospective buyer.

If you want to buy the Doherty family, they are open to offers on www.inventor4sale.0creator.com