The wheels on your baby's pram are covered in mud - or something worse - and you have no option but to take the baby mover inside the house in case it gets stolen.

Now inventor Barry Wright has come to the rescue with his latest creation . . . wellies for pram wheels.

The former Royal Navy marine engineer, of Beaconsfield Villas, Brighton, came up with the bizarre idea while he was living in France.

Barry, 31, said: "I was sitting outside a cafe in Nice. The French love dogs and I was watching all these prams going through the mess.

"Then the prams would sit in their apartments until the next time they went out.

"I came back to England to be with my wife Kate and started work. I already had the initial design from sitting in the cafe and pencilling it there and then."

It took another two months to get the material right and find a manufacturer but Pram Wellies are now on the market.

You simply put the elasticated miniature covers over your wheels and off you go.

When you get home, the covers come off and the tyres are still pristine.

The washable Pram Wellies are made of material similar to that used for liners in gardens.

Barry does not have any children himself so he tested the wellies out on prams and buggies belonging to his nephews and nieces.

He said: "I tested the prototype on them and my two sisters think they are great.

"People were stopping them asking where they'd got them from."

Now Barry is about to patent his invention and has started selling them mail order with the help of a manufacturing firm based in Worthing and the Brighton and Hove Enterprise Agency.

He said: "They come in six different sizes and stretch over the wheels so they stay in place.

"They're available through baby magazines but I'd like them to go into the bigger stores, like Mothercare."

At a cost of between £3 and £4.50 a set, Pram Wellies last around three months.

Barry said: "The response has been very good. Since October, I've sold about 1,000 sets and orders are coming in every day.

"I'm very pleased. People who have used them order them again."

Barry has been inventing since he was a small boy when he came up with some brake lights for his bike.

He said: "The Pram Wellies help finance my other inventions but I can't reveal what they are yet!"

The Pram Wellies have even appeared in the Invention corner slot on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast, although Barry did not appear himself.

Brighton and Hove Enterprise Agency is delighted with the way the wellies are taking off.

Chief executive Jane North said: "Barry's case is an excellent example of how our support can help entrepreneurs and small companies."

Anyone who would like more information, or who would like to order some Pram Wellies, should contact 00800 328 8091.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.