A TENNIS coach-come-entrepreneur from Bromsgrove has taken his pram accessory invention to the finals of a national competition for innovative baby products.

Lee Cowan’s Sandslider, which allows prams to be pulled over uneven terrain, is up for the Baby Products Association’s 2018 Concept and Innovation Award – the UK’s top trade accolade for nursery goods.

“I’m thrilled to have won through to the final four, in what is a really prestigious award,” said Lee, age 34.

“We had to present our product to a group of industry experts Dragon’s Den-style, which was pretty nerve-racking.

“We’re launching the product at the Harrogate show, where national and international buyers will see the Sandslider for the first time.”

The Harrogate International Nursery Fair will host the contest finals on March 25.

Julie Milne, of the Baby Products Association, said: “The quality of entries was extremely high this year, but the judges chose the four finalists whose entries were not only innovative, but were commercially viable and addressed a market need.

“They were impressed with Sandsliders because it is a clever but simple idea and has the potential for future development.”

Lee, who has been a head coach at Droitwich Spa Lawn Tennis Club since 2011, developed the Sandslider after holidaying in Gran Canaria, watching parents struggle to move their prams across a beach.

His invention, made from polypropylene and assembled in the UK by workers with disabilities, attaches to prams, buggies and strollers via two hooks.

It has been tested on snow, pebble beaches, pea gravel, muddy grass and campsites.