A DIRECTOR of a struggling amphibious vehicle company said his invention would have made a perfect rescue vehicle following the tsunami.

David Royle, the managing director of Covelink Marine, in Staindrop, County Durham, believes his Jet Truck would have saved many lives in the floods.

In November last year, Mr Royle placed the company into administration after he was unable to raise sufficient capital to support potential orders worth £100m.

However, he believes the disaster in Asia demonstrates the need for his invention.

He said the Jet Truck can travel at more than 30 knots on water and up to 70mph on land, and can reach places that are inaccessible to helicopters and other rescue vehicles.

Mr Royle said: "Our amphibians could make a major contribution to rescuing people and delivering aid to hard-to-reach places for about 15 per cent of the price of a helicopter.

"When we were first designing this, we realised it would make an excellent rescue vehicle as well as having commercial and transport uses."

The Jet Truck cost £4.4m to develop and would retail at about £350,000 per vehicle.

A potential 65,000sq ft site has been identified at Aycliffe, near Darlington, for production of the vehicle

However, Mr Royle has been unable to raise £2.5m to begin production and was forced to go into administration and make 15 staff redundant.

The company is still in administration.