Inventor's game gamble

Youngsters may now seem happier playing computer games or watching TV.

However, Jim aims to get families spending time together again and to get youngsters playing games which offer enjoyment and education.

The 66-year-old, of Marmion Grove, Dudley, started making snooker tables at a fraction of the price they sold for in shops in the 60s.

When the market for that peaked in the mid-80s, hemade alternatives, including octagonal snooker tables with a single pocket in the middle.

His Azdek Gamesbase is a near 6ft long table mounted on a stand.

It comes with two "kiksticks", smaller versions of snooker cues that are "fired" at pace using a spring mechanism, different coloured pucks and two traps or goals at either end of the table. Variations of cricket, tennis and football can be played.

In one game a football on a plinth, rests on a stack of pucks. Opposing players fire a white or black puck at the stack to knock the bottom one away without tumbling the ball over at the top.

If that happens, pucks are reset and the player start s again in a game loosely based on Snakes and Ladders principles.

Jim says: "The Azdek is intended to provide an alternative to computer games, which isolate youngsters from their families and may also affect other aspects of their health." Colley Lane Primary School, Halesowen and Milking Bank Primary School, Dudley, took tables to see how children respond.

Glowing reviews, with up to 60 or 70 children queuing at lunchtimes to have at go at Colley Lane recently, convinced Jim of its marketability.

Colley Lane head Peter Greaves said: "Azdek has allowed the children to develop skills and strategies while having fun and enjoyment and using verbal communication." Tables are at £99. Log on to www.azdekgames.co.uk for details.