ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A bankrupt inventor in the UK committed suicide without realising the hand dryer he had invented had been hailed the world's best.

Peter Williams, the inventor of the Vortex hand dryer - now marketed by Savortex - was struggling with heavy debts and died months before his device was judged by Guinness World Records to be the world's most energy efficient dryer.

A coroner heard how Williams became ill with diabetes in 1993 and was unable to work. He was declared bankrupt in February 2007 and his finances were put in the hands of trustees. He died after being hit by a train.