AN ENGINEER has plunged straight into the 21st century by setting up innovative new software to help plumbers who suffer from dyslexia.

Rich Cartwright from Witney has been working as a consultant for the last four years, being hired by plumbers to carry out calculations to work out how much heat is lost from each room of a home.

Now, 37-year-old Mr Cartwright has spent the last 10 months developing a special new type of software called Heat Engineer which plumbers can sign up to to work out the calculations by themselves, quickly and easily.

But the key aspect of the new scheme, is that the software can be adapted for plumbers who suffer from dyslexia.

Mr Cartwright, who lives in Woodlands Meadow with wife Jessica and children Reuben, six and Leah, who is nearly two, said: "A lot of blood and sweat has gone into this and I honestly don't think there is any other software like this in the world.

"Heat loss calculations are very important for plumbers. Four years ago I had my own consultancy business doing these calculations but I realised I didn't want to do that forever.

"So I started making an online system and app.

"It's very affordable compared to thousands some people charge; the annual subscription fee is £250 plus VAT."

Dyslexia is a condition that affects the way the brain processes both written and spoken language, meaning people with it can have trouble reading and writing.

Witney born and bred Mr Cartwright employed a professional coder to help him create the app, which can be downloaded onto mobile phones. Plumbers, especially those suffering from the condition, can change the colour, text size, font and other elements of the site to help them use it.

He added: "Plumbers can often have short attention spans. I'm a member of the Plumbing Institute and we get magazines every three months. There was a statistic in the last one about 10 per cent of the population suffering from dyslexia.

"But it's even higher for plumbers I think as people with dyslexia leave school with the inclination to use their hands and do some problem solving."

Adults with dyslexia can often thrive in careers where hands-on talents can be realised; for example carpentry, plumbing and electrical.

Visit heat-engineer.com to see Mr Cartwright's website.