AN ENTREPRENEUR from Redditch believes he has invented the purr-fect pet food bowl to keep food fresh and sealed when not in use.

Peter Hill was inspired to come up with an original prototype for Pedaldish after finding his own cats' food was covered in fly eggs.

Using parts from a pedal bin in his garage, he built a design which solved the problem by keeping food in a sealed container with a flap lid.

He spent two years modifying his design before funding from Worcestershire County Council’s Proof of Concept programme helped him to subsidise the first 3,000 products, which will now be on sale exclusively at Pets at Home from April 23 for six months.

He said: “I would come home to find my cats’ pet food untouched and covered in fly eggs and I knew something had to change.

“I modified a pedal bin, fitted it with a ramp and taught my cats to step onto it when they wanted to eat. From that day I never lost pet food to flies ever again.

“Visitors saw my cats using the homemade feeder and it became the source of many discussions.

"When I started getting requests to make them, I knew it was something that could help other pet owners.”

Cats or small dogs step onto a ramp to open a lid, which has a shallow bowl inside for a single portion of meat and a deeper bowl for larger meals.

Biscuits stay crunchy, meat stays moist and the sealed dish also contains the smell of food, while flies can’t reach the food inside and floating airborne microbes are kept away.

Mr Hill added: “Unlike other pet bowls with lid, Pedaldish doesn’t use motors, electrics or sensors. Best of all there’s no batteries to replace.”