ELECTRONICS giants in America and Holland are beating a path to the door of a former John Masefield High School pupil.

Andy Vernall has designed a wristwatch that can access the Internet, sample music mini-discs and even beam-in images from cinemas.

The 25-year-old has been approached by major firms, including Philips and Orange, and is taking a few weeks out to decide whether his future lies in the USA or The Netherlands.

He said: "I'm still weighing up my options. I guess I'm lucky."

Mr Vernall, whose parents Robert and Sally live in Woodleigh Road, Ledbury, has just completed his masters degree in design and art at the Royal College of Art in Kensington Gore, London.

For the degree show, the young designer offered a partially-working prototype of something he calls the i-PAL.

This looks like a wristwatch which, with a small attachment and eyepiece, can be used to take in and display digital information, such as music from a mini-disc or movie trailers from a cinema.

At a train station, the i-PAL could be used to pick up information about journeys, delays and cancellations.

Mr Vernall said: "This is a project about communication in the 21st Century, making access to information more physical again."

He said the i-PAL could tap the Internet in the "same way as a personal computer".

Mr Vernall admits that the prototype "needs work and is still in development". But he is hopeful that there might well be a place for the finished item in the modern world.

Concerning sampling a mini-disc in a record store and saving up the results for later, the designer believes that record companies might make provision for such technology and allow certain portions of their discs to be sampled as a marketing medium.

Mr Vernall is following his elder brother Christopher into the world of design. Christoper, also a former pupil at John Masefield High School, now works for the Central Research Laboratory in London.

Their proud mum, Sally, said of the attention given to her younger son's invention: "We're very proud of him, he deserves success. He's worked hard all his student life and achieved what he wanted to do."

His father, Robert, said: "He's done very well and is following in the footsteps of his brother Christopher. I like DIY myself. I'm pretty handy myself."