EVEN during the deepest, darkest recession on record, it seems there’s always a brighter side to life.

At least, that was the attitude Dr Phil Green took when he had his hours reduced at his job as a designer for a small automotive company in London.

With his new-found spare time, Dr Green, a former design lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, decided he’d invent a solution to one of life’s little problems.

The result is the Midnight Pebble, a glow-in-the-dark coaster clock that Dr Green believes solves a nightly dilemma – seeing the time and finding that bedside glass of water.

“Finding your bedside glass of water and seeing the time are two of the most common things people want if they momentarily awake during the night,” said Dr Green, from Eddington Crescent, WGC.

The Midnight Pebble uses a high grade of photoluminescent material – most commonly used in emergency exit signs – that absorbs light rays during the day and emits a green glow in the dark.

Place a glass of water on top, and the effect is an upward illumination, allowing you to see both the time and how full your glass is.

“I thought it a great shame that the latest photoluminescent materials were confined to situations most people want to avoid,” Dr Green, 44, explained.

“I turned my attention to these materials and applied them to a common problem.”

But, you may ask, isn’t the light a bit distracting at night when you’re trying to sleep?

“The level of light has been tailored to the application,” Dr Green said.

“It’s a gentle, green, upward illumination, but it’s bright enough to see a glass of water in the night.

“It’s much less disturbing than an LED alarm clock.”

Dr Green currently has a patent pending for the Midnight Pebble, and is looking for investors in his product.

For more information, visit www.midnightpebble.co.uk or call 07564 003825.