"A GOOD invention is something that everyone wants at a cheap price," according to East London Inventors Club (ELIC) chairman and founder Terry Jennings.

You might think it nearly impossible to think of anything new that people would want to buy, but some of the ideas that have come out of the ELIC, based at the University of East London, are so disarmingly simple you wonder why they have not been around for years.

So successful is the 47-strong group that between them they won 11 medals at last year's British Invention Show.

Some of the prize-winning ideas included a device to help disabled people dress themselves, a clip to save tying knots in balloons and a climate-controlled animal container.

ELIC member Hilda Varley has patented the StrapTrap, which keeps bra straps in line with whatever is being worn over them.

The one-piece device, which is sewn into the shoulder of a dress or top, was born out of a dislike of having underwear on show and is now being sold to manufacturers around the world.

Meanwhile, Mr Jennings' latest project is a magnetic hazard light, which can clip on to the body of any car or trailer and is recommended by the AA.

Run on Opto Light Emitting Diodes, which get brighter the further away you are from them; they can be seen from up to two kilometres away, compared to about 100 metres for a normal reflector, and will increase road safety.

The idea came from a near-miss Mr Jennings had on the motorway late at night, and many ELIC members' ideas come from personal experience.

Other inspirations have been more mundane.

Mr Jennings said: "My wife used to have a bouffant hairstyle, and whenever we went to a dance she would have to take a large can of lacquer with her. You could not get smaller ones.

"So I messed around with adapters and found I could fill up empty perfume aerosols very easily.

"They would hold enough to last the night, and I filled up 40 for my wife and her friends. I took it to a hairdressing company in the Midlands, but they told me it was not marketable.

"Then three months later they nicked the idea, and these little bottles were in all the shops.

"I was furious, so I rang up all the womens' magazines and told them how to do it themselves. I got £95 for those articles.

"The hairdressers rang me up and asked me if I was trying to put them out of business? I said: Yes'."

More fortunate was the inventor of the flavoured drinking straw, who settled out of court with food giant Nestle for £45m after the company launched a strikingly similar design.

However, Mr Jennings says, there is rarely serious money to be made from inventing and he should know, having been a hobbyist inventor since the age of 12.

His first invention was a converter that enabled his father's television set to pick up more than one channel, and was made out of an old Oxo tin.

Next he fashioned a new TV aerial from his mother's stair rails.

Also in his portfolio of innovations is a compact prefabricated shelter that can be dropped from a helicopter into remote areas hit by disaster.

It was adapted for use following the earthquake in Kashmir last year.

But the difficulty of taking an invention right through the design stages and all the way into the shops is part of the reason ELIC was set up.

Being based at UEL means the club's members have access to staff and facilities at the university's Knowledge Dock business centre.

As a result the inventors are able to develop, adapt and build their designs more professionally than they would be able to do on their own.

UEL staff work confidentially with their clients to ensure that no potentially lucrative ideas are leaked before patenting.

Mr Jennings said: "An inventor is always fumbling around, messing about in his garden shed spending what little money he has got.

"Most have a good idea but do not see what to do with it.

"We have got some really fabulous ideas here, and we are helping the majority of these people to achieve something with what they have.

"It has been rewarding to know that the lone inventor is now making his mark."

Mr Jennings' partner Brenda Reay is club secretary and a former primary school teacher.

She says anyone can be an inventor: "Our members come from everywhere, and every age group.

"I think everybody has good ideas, it is whether or not you want to take them further.

"Children are really brilliant at ideas.

"But you have to beat your head against a brick wall to get an idea into the market."