Mother of five crowned world’s top female inventor

A BRITISH beautician and mother has been voted the world’s top female inventor after coming up with a device to control children’s access to chat rooms.

Paula Ward, 35, developed the Phone & Net Guard, as a result of fears about one of her daughter’s internet conversations.

Now she could be on her way to making a fortune.

The device, which fits into a phone socket, enables the user to bar specific numbers at the touch of a button.

Earlier this month former model Paula, from Caterham, Surrey, beat more than 1,000 other hopefuls at “Inpex”, the world’s largest invention trade show in Pittsburgh, USA. She became the first Briton to win the award for the world’s best female inventor in the competition’s 20-year history.

“I am so proud and I couldn’t have dreamed of anything better,” said the mother of five. Paula thought of the idea two years ago when she began to worry about her 11-year-old daughter’s use of internet chat rooms.

“I checked her computer and I saw a worrying conversation where she seemed to be arranging to meet someone at the park nearby,” she said. After contacting BT, Paula was told there was no system available that could bar selected phone numbers.

Paula set about learning the rudiments of telecom engineering and recruited a local electronics firm to build the prototype.

Then she approached telecom giants Commtel UK who signed her up on an exclusive contract. The stg£29.95 device goes on sale at Homebase stores on August 16.