The world's first shoes to be made for talking were hailed a success when inventor Trevor Baylis successfully called Sir Richard Branson at his home from the Namibian Desert.

Mr Baylis, 62, who was on a 100-mile trek across the desert organised by the charity Mines Advisory Group, was able to generate power for the link-up from the simple motion of walking using his prototype shoes fitted with tiny dynamos.

In a three-minute chat Mr Baylis talked with the Virgin tycoon, who lives in Mill End, Kidlington, about the expedition and worldwide efforts to clear mines from former war zones. Sir Richard pulled the phone from his ear for a moment as the expedition team celebrated with three cheers.

Mr Baylis, inventor of the Baygen wind-up radio, revealed that as he stepped off the plane in Namibia on the first day a wire broke, forcing last-minute repairs.

But he told Sir Richard: Well, here I am talking to you, so it's worked.

Mr Baylis has registered the technology with the Patent Office and is hopeful the final product could even power a palm-sized computer.

Sir Richard said: Trevor came to me some years ago with the wind-up radio and unfortunately it got lost in the pile of things we were developing, but he's gone on to prove it himself.

Now he's developed this fun and very useful technology which means just by going on nice, long walks you can generate battery power.