Inventor Trevor Baylis has thanked former South African president Nelson Mandela for a moment which started his career.

The 75-year-old Eel Pie Island resident came up with the idea for a clockwork radio after watching a documentary about the problems getting information on Aids to people living in rural Africa.

The idea was turned down by the design council in this country but led him to meet Mandela, who wholeheartedly gave the invention his backing, helped get the idea off the ground and kick-started his career.

Mr Baylis said: “On behalf of Twickenham I would like to say thank you so much Nelson Mandela for bringing this product to market and changing the lives of so many people despite being turned down by the design council.”

Mr Baylis spent a day with Mandela in Pretoria, South Africa, and said he was a charming man.

He said: “We talked to each other as though we had been pals all our life. He is a very nice, honest, decent guy.

“I am very, very proud to have met this gentleman."

Mr Baylis has invented more than 250 products, including a shoe that generates enough electricity as you walk to charge a mobile phone and a self-weighing briefcase, and was recently named among the 50 greatest inventors in British history.

Mandela is currently in a serious but stable condition in hospital in South Africa, family have said.