PART-time inventor Kieran Wilkinson has created a smoke alarm that could be a life-saver for the disabled and elderly.

The specialist technical officer for North Tyneside Council is now seeking a patent and a manufacturer to bring it into production.

Mr Wilkinson works in the council's disability unit where he assesses the needs of deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people for gadgets such as specialist door bells, telephones, baby alarms or smoke alarms.

His alarm tester can be used from ground level or a wheelchair without the need to climb step ladders or a chair.

The smoke detection unit is fitted to the ceiling, but there is a separate control box for testing and resetting, which can be mounted at any height on a wall.

The system operates using infra red beams and link to a paging or lighting system for the deaf.

Mr Wilkinson said: "Smoke alarms should be tested once a month so people have to get into an elevated position. Alarms can also go off in a non-emergency with cooking fumes and need to be reset."

In more than 57 per cent of reported house fires, there is no smoke alarm and 56 per cent of all fire deaths occur in homes without one.

The invention has been endorsed by the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service.

The prototype was developed with backing from the North East Business and Innovation Centre's (BIC) product and process development unit.