Four friends who spent their free time developing a razor at their local pub believe their product has "solved one of the world's problems".

David Bruce conceived the idea at his Barham home in 2015 after he misplaced the frame of his shaver.

As a result, the 46-year-old was forced to trim his beard with the blades while they were still in their cartridge.

Impressed with the shave, he pitched the idea of developing a new type of razor to his long-time friends, designer Mark Crosbie-Smith, scientist Stuart Abel, and technology expert Andy Thornton.

“It was discovered by complete mistake,” Mr Bruce, 46, said.

“I shaved by just holding the blade cartridge close to my face.

"I thought 'wow, that gives me a really close shave'.

“We have no background in razors whatsoever – we’re from different industries – and are just a bunch of mates.”

The quartet worked on the idea at the Duke of Cumberland in The Street, Barham, twice a week over the next four years.

While there, they designed the product, secured the patents for it across Europe and America and conducted their market research.

“We jokingly called the pub our office,” Mr Bruce continued.

“It’s been a hobby for us. We got to know Helen the landlady quite well.

“We ate a lot of crisps and actually drank more diet Coke and soft drinks than beer while we worked there.

“Two of us are based in Barham, another in Bekesbourne and Andy is based in San Francisco – he joined us through video link.”

The shaver, called Rathbone Razors, promises to combine "the closeness of the cut-throat razor with the ease of use of a cartridge safety razor".

"We think we've solved one of the world's problems" - David Bruce

“We’d like to take on the big guys,” Mr Bruce added.

“Our product is very different to what the likes of Gillette are selling.

“Our data tells us the vast majority of men dislike shaving and of those 80% would recommend the Rathbone Razor.

"We think we’ve solved one of the world's problems.”

The handle will cost £19 and packs of four replacement blades £10.

Mr Bruce says they will be available to buy in November provided he raises £20,000 for their production.

So far, he has generated more than £8,200 on the Rathbone Razors Kickstarter page, which can be found at bit.ly/2YGb6gs