A NORTH Ayrshire inventor claims he has the solution to the issues with the seawall in Saltcoats.

And Roddy McCafferty says his idea could generate millions of pounds per year from electricity production but claims he won’t be listened to as he is a ‘lone inventor’

He said: “The answer is a simple combination of groynes and tapchans. Tapchans are tapered channels that can lift oncoming waves and deposit them at a higher height in a storage channel so the stored water can then be dropped through a water turbine to generate electricity.

“The tapchans take the destructive power of the waves and utilise them in a useful way producing electrical power.

“The coastal defence “groynes” are naturally formed between adjacent tapchans.

“The fact that the construction protects the railway line from storm water means that the trains can run all year round regardless of weather conditions.

“That means that it is good news for passengers, parcel carriers and a whole host of businesses that rely on the rail link.”

A lack of government backing is holding Roddy back and he says lone inventors are halted in their progress.

The Kilwinning man added: “I am an inventor and have many ideas.

“Unfortunately I am a “lone inventor” and there is no present government backed system that pays any attention or gives any support to “lone inventors”. I have been asking various MSPs and government backed organisations for several years to install a “Round Table”, whereby all stakeholders could meet safely.”

Last year the Herald reported that the £6million seawall could do little to stop disruption caused by waves.

Local MSPs said they would continue to press Network Rail on the issue.