An entrepreneur from south Essex was given a tough time on BBC Two show Dragon’s Den after unsuccessfully showcasing his invention in the hope of gaining investment.

Nigel Mills, who owns TEC-Angel, based in Battlesbridge, faced the formidable investors - known as the Dragons - to ask them to support his new product.

TEC-Angel is a monitoring and alert system designed to help vulnerable people, living alone, which picks up on their movements and alerts people linked into the their system if no movement has been made for a while.

Unfortunately for Nigel, his product failed to impress.

One Dragon, Peter Jones, said: “I don’t really want to wake up every morning and think ‘oh no, why has mum spent an extra 16 minutes in the shower?”

Another Dragon, Deborah Meaden, asked him about previously using a company name which had already been taken.

He originally called his company ArcAngel but he found out later that the name was already registered.

So, although he changed the name to TEC-Angel, his product was still branded as ArcAngel.

Commenting on the name duplication, Ms Meaden said to Nigel: “I am staggered that you have made such a schoolboy error. Checking a name is just the first thing you do.”

Nigel said of his experience: “Facing the Dragons was a nerve-wracking experience. However, I managed to compose myself and complete my pitch.

“Notwithstanding extensive preparation of our pitch nothing had prepared me for the intensity and probing of the Dragons. Facing them was a catalyst for us to make changes to our strategies.”