PAUL Varley's passion for photography has led him to invent a camera component that could revolutionise the way we take pictures.

His lens, which enlarges the images on the viewer of digital cameras, has already won him a gold merit at the British Innovation Awards.

Mr Varley, 35, of Easington Colliery, east Durham, is now hoping his invention will be snapped up by camera retailers around the world.

While photographing wildlife, Mr Varley found he had to continually use a magnifying glass to view shots.

"The trouble was the magnifier distorted the shots and I decided that there must be better way of enlarging images,'' he said.

And from that first inspiration over a year ago, he set about inventing the Iris cover for the viewer on digital cameras.

At first Mr Varley, who works at the NSK bearings factory, in Peterlee, found a lot of negative responses to his idea.

"I was determined that this magnifying cover would work, so I just kept going," he said.

His fortunes changed when he visited a patent expert in Newcastle, who pointed him in the direction of Northumbria University. Mr Varley secured an appointment at the Knowledge House section of the University, which is dedicated to helping people with ideas.

He presented his sketches and after a few modification the Iris cover was produced.

Since the British Innovation Awards, Mr Varley has had interest expressed from some Japanese companies.

* Anyone interested in the invention can call Knowledge House on 0191 5164408.