Pictured: (l to r) Brothers Richard and Jim George who ventured into the Dragons' Den

Midlands brothers Richard and Jim George braved the Dragons' Den to try and secure backing for a product that aims to stop premature fence post rot.

The plucky pair from Malvern, Worcs, presented their PostSaver invention to the panel of multi-millionaires during episode 3 of the popular BBC 2 TV series, which aired on August 14th.

After a nerve-wracking pitch, the brothers were made offers by four of the Dragons but a final agreement on a deal could not be reached.

"Under the glare and pressure of being in front of the Dragons, I think we may have made the wrong decision by not accepting an offer, but only time will tell," said Jim George.

"And although appearing on Dragons' Den was a gruelling experience and not something to be undertaken lightly, it was a fantastic opportunity to pit our wits against a formidable team," he added.

The brothers came up with the idea for the protective dual-layer fence post sleeve after the EU ruled that only environment-friendly preservatives could be used to treat timber fencing.

"The new preservatives are less effective which means that instead of posts lasting on average 15 years, they can now rot through at ground level in only a few years, which leaves consumers with an otherwise perfectly good fence that has to be replaced," explained Jim.

PostSaver sleeves comprise a tough polythene outer layer lined with a meltable sealant and are designed to keep preservatives in and decay out. They are easily applied using a low-cost gas blow torch.

While they couldn't agree a deal on PostSaver, the brothers are already contemplating a second shot at the show with another invention. They have developed a special fuel-saving spout for use with fuel cans, which works just like a petrol nozzle at the garage and prevents overfilling by stopping the flow when the tank is full.