AN INNOVATIVE Hampshire device designed for leisure boaters to look under their boats could soon find itself being poked down badger sets and around burning loft spaces by firefighters.

Called Scubar, the underwater camera on a flexible pole was created by a pair of Hampshire businessmen to solve the mystery of what was hampering their boat's propeller.

Hamble's Iris Surveillance boss Tony Digweed had to pay to have his boat lifted out of the water to discover a clump of rope wrapped around the blades.

Together with business partner Carl Hitchcock he dreamt up the £1,210 Scubar so he could easily peek beneath the waves and examine the bottom of his boat.

An underwater camera complete with lights and mounted on a flexible neck, which attaches to a 4.5-metre telescopic pole, Scubar also turns out to be exactly what firefighters have been looking for. The service has traditionally used low-tech methods such as ladders on rope to search rivers but Berkshire firefighters are now trialling Scubar and are happy with early results.

Sub Officer Bob Wibberley said: "At the moment we don't have any provision to go sub-surface, short of police divers who can be 24 hours away.

"We get called to sub-surface incidents anyway and in the past we had to trawl the riverbed with ladders attached to lines to try and locate bodies.

"This is ideal to search instead. It has been haphazard in the past. This equipment has bought us on in leaps and bounds.

"We would also look to use it to look into tight spaces such as lofts and when dogs get stuck into badger sets, which we are not allowed to dig out by law.

"We have it on trial, so I have to be careful what I say, but the results are positive."

Iris Surveillance's Carla Wright said they had sold Scubar to the Royal Navy and were also getting interest from the Army and the police.

"It's taking off. We are really busy and getting orders nearly every day," she said.