Inventor Robert Smith has come up with a new idea to clean toilet bowls efficiently and hassle-free.

And his design, which has been given a patent, has attracted the attention of a number of companies interested in manufacturing it.

Devonshire’s Mr Smith, who invented the Honey Water Filter in the late 1990s, believes the prospects are good for his latest invention, which he has tested after building a prototype.

The device is simple. It contains replaceable bleach balls and fits under the rim of a toilet seat. When the toilet is flushed water runs through the device, collecting bleach before it cascades down the bowl cleaning and deodourising. When the bleach balls need to be replaced the device can be removed, reloaded and put back in place.

“It is out of sight and when you flush it cleans the whole of the toilet bowl. It cleans everything and gets rid of rust stains. Every household and hotel will want to have it,” enthused Mr Smith, 62.

He made a prototype to test his idea and, satisfied that it worked, contacted a US patent attorney to register his invention.

“Everyone thought it was pie in the sky but then they saw it working,” he said.

For now he is keeping his prototype out of sight while his patent lawyer secures a deal for the manufacturing of the device. However, Mr Smith showed

The Royal Gazette a blueprint of the device and his US patent documents. He intends to keep the patent while selling the rights to make and sell the device. “I don’t want the headache [of manufacturing]. I will pass on the rights.”

Four companies have so far expressed an interest, according to Mr Smith. The water filters he invented in the late 1990s were successfully installed in properties during the 2000s by the Natural Business Company, a firm he cofounded.

Asked how he comes up with his inventions, Mr Smith said: “God gives me the idea. I see something then I go to sleep and it’s figured out when I dream.”