IT'S the age old story. It seems as if your baby has been crying for weeks without end. You've tried walks in the park, journeys in the car seat and you've tried winding them. Nothing seems to work.

Enter some help in the unlikely shape of former boxer Walter Pearce pictured with his niece, Paige Stock, 14 months . For Mr Pearce, 48, from Duffryn, has patented a new invention he hopes will soon be gracing the homes of parents all over Britain.

He has come up with the idea of a musical device to attach to a baby's bottle, in an attempt to get music to soothe the savage beast.

The device fits on the bottom of a bottle and activates when it is tipped up. The boltle then plays a lullaby and, hopefully, baby becomes ever more contented, takes his or her feed and then drops off to sleep.

Mr Pearce, from a well-known Newport family of boxers, hit on the idea after suffering sleepless nights with his daughter Adele, now aged 10.

He said: "Until she was 14 months old she kept us awake all night. I thought 'there has got be something I can do'."

Music seemed to be the way foward. He came up with the idea of a musical bottle and then spent several years perfecting a design.

Mr Pearce has now patented the gadget, with the backing of a Newport businessman, in Britain, Europe and the United States of America. He is in negotiations with a possible manufacturer but would like to hear from anyone else who may be interested.

He said he had received a lot of positive feedback from women he had told about the idea.

"There are a lot of crying babies out there," said Mr Pearce. "Everybody I have spoken to loves it."

Enquiries about the device can be made to Mr Pearce on 07974 848844 or e-mail him at millenniumbottle@aol.com.

The Patent Office, which is based in Newport, says patents are granted for technological inventions which are "novel and inventive".

They are valid only in the country where they are granted and last for a maximum of 20 years.

It means the applicant has the right to exclude others from making, using, selling or importing the same invention unless they buy a licence from the patentee.