Steve Capon has come up with dozens of uses for his latest invention but never thought hiding his modesty would be one of them.

Mr Capon and fellow Brighton inventor Steve Singh have stripped off for a calendar to raise money for The Institute of Cancer Research.

Mr Capon, who thought of the idea, hopes to raise thousands of pounds in honour of his grandmother Marjorie Capon, 80, from Newhaven, who recently died of bowel cancer.

He said: "I was very close to my nana and I want to help play some part in conquering cancer."

Mr Capon, 35, invented the Binvelope, a collapsible box with the capacity to hold two bin bags, which is being tested by Brighton and Hove City Council in the North Laine in January.

He has come up with a multitude of other uses for the PVC-coated polystyrene devices, which can be folded flat and easily stored.

For the calendar shoot, in which he is Mr January, he positioned himself strategically behind a stack of Binvelopes.

He said: "I have never stripped off like that before so I was a little daunted."

Dr Singh, senior lecturer in electronics at Brighton University's department of engineering, posed for the calendar with his creation, a dimmer switch which can be fitted into light bulb sockets and activated by a TV remote control.

The friends, both members of Croydon Roundtable of Inventors and support group ideas21, came up with the idea of The Naked Inventor Calendar 2004 to generate money while raising awareness of the help available for struggling entrepreneurs.

Mr Capon, who has a home in Brighton, managed to convince fellow members of the groups to join him in baring all.

A proportion of the money raised will also be donated to Motivation, a charity for wheelchair-users supported by ideas21.

To order a copy of the calendar, priced £5, visit www.ideas21.co.uk