No more burnt backs

It has long been one of the banes of the British holidaymaker - how to get suntan lotion spread evenly all over your back?

For those of us who aren't flexible enough to reach up to our shoulder blades, one woman may well have come up with the answer.

Caroline Wagstaff has invented a device designed to spread sun protection all over. The BodyBaster is a plastic, hand-held contraption with a sponge head to which the lotion is applied and then rubbed into the skin.

Miss Wagstaff, 43, came up with the idea while holidaying with her partner on a beach in Greece seven years ago. She began using a sponge attached to a coat hanger to apply sun-tan lotion to her back in an effort to avoid being sunburnt and before long the BodyBaster was born.

Miss Wagstaff, who gave up her career as an events organiser to launch her invention, said: "I was lying on the beach and my partner had gone off somewhere. I was reluctant to turn over until he returned as I hadn't been able to put lotion all over my back and didn't want to burn it.

"The next day I decided to bring a sponge with me that I had put on a coat hanger and use that when I needed it. It might have looked a bit silly but it stopped me burning my back."

Miss Wagstaff, from Chertsey, Surrey, decided to develop her idea and went to see a product designer. "Eventually we came up with the design you see today. It is basically a flexible handle with a foam sponge at the end which curves to match the contours of the back as you use it. It sounds quite simple but it took a while to get the design right."

The BodyBaster was launched last month and has already attracted interest from people all over the country.

"I have sold hundreds of them and had many calls from people in the medical profession, such as chiropodists, dermatologists and nurses," said Miss Wagstaff.

"I had only intended it for use in applying suntan lotion but people are now using it to apply moisturiser or medical ointments as well."

The inventor, who now runs her own limited company, hopes to establish a deal with a multinational company that produces suntan lotions, moisturising creams and ointments so the Body-Baster can be sold together with such products.

"I never thought that lying on the beach and using a sponge to put suntan lotion on my back would lead to me having my own company," she said.

Miss Wagstaff is one of the entrants in this year's British Female Inventor Award .