RATS in the quartermaster's stores are unlikely to pose a problem thanks to a Worcestershire firm.

Martley Electronics' device will see rodents on the run and pesky birds taking flight with ultrasonics, strobe flashers and predator noises.

The BS4 has attracted orders from feed mills, farms, shopping centres and car assembly plants.

Rob Yarnold, marketing manager of the Holt Heath-based firm, said the device - the first multifunctional indoor and outdoor pest scarer of its kind - was effectively a two-in-one repellent.

It will scare off birds by emitting both a strobe flash, which overloads their sensory receptors and temporarily blinds them, and can also emit the noises of predators like hawks and peregrine falcons as an extra deterrent.

The BS4 will also weed out rodents and pigeons with an ultra-sonic sound beyond the range of human hearing, which they find intolerable.

It is capable of warding off pests up to 75ft away and requires around a fortnight to clear an area.

"We're targeting primarily shopping centres and railway stations, which really are areas that you cannot have loud noises," said Mr Yarnold, who presents Rob On Sunday for BBC Hereford & Worcester Radio.

"But we've also discovered that the ultra-sonics work on pigeons which is a big advantage in plants and places where you can't have noise.

"We've been doing research into this for years, but it is only in recent months that we have been able to make successful trials. There are a lot of pest control companies who have been trialling the system for us."

The BS4 is the latest in a line of successful products from Martley Electronics' PestOff range.

Two years ago, it came up with a winning formula to scare seagulls off oil rigs and stop them leaving slippery guano deposits that landing aircraft could slip on.