A Droitwich company has won the Inspiration Award at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Show for its groundbreaking home fire-fighting product.
Powex has come up with a light-weight, hand-held device which forces out a unique fire-extinguishing fluid when the spring system is activated. It can fight most types of home blazes and is especially designed for chip pan and fat fires.
Powex beat more than 650 exhibitors at the show to take first place in the annual competition.
"The idea behind the Inspiration Award is to reward the most innovative and inspirational products on the market," said Ideal Home Show director, Niki Baker.
"The Powex is an interesting, groundbreaking idea that takes an existing product into the future and will really make a difference to the future of home safety."
She added that past winners of the Inspiration Award had included the Dyson Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner and Robomow, the first robotic lawnmower.
Powex was set up earlier this year but founder Robert Powell has been working on the product for more than seven years.
The product has been launched to the public for the first time at this year's Ideal Home Show.
"We are over the moon with the award and the response we have had from visitors to the show so far," said Kerrith Parsons, who is Mr Powell's daughter and sales manager at Powex.
"This has really been the perfect forum to launch the product and we have taken a huge amount of orders already."
The fluid ejected from the 16-inch Powex settles on the flames and seals them from the oxygen needed to keep them burning. The residue left behind is non-toxic and can be easily removed with water.
Advantages over traditional fire extinguishers are that the device can be used from any angle at a safe distance, unlike fire extinguishers, which need to be held upright.
As the Powex is non-pressurised, it removes the danger of explosion and does not need any maintenance.
The Inspiration Award is judged by a panel of design and marketing experts, including BBC One's Changing Rooms' host Linda Barker, and head of design at the Royal Society of Arts, Susan Hewer.
The winning product should be innovative and demonstrate design excellence, and production should be environmentally sound.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article