THIS WEEK IN 1972: Lazy Portchester grandad won£1,500 for invention

William Blogg, 65, of Cornaway Lane had already been awarded the British Empire Medal, largely in connection with his invention.

It was a device used by Ordnance Survey, for whom Mr Blogg worked, to help turn aerial photographs into accurate maps.

Known as an analogue tilt analyser, it worked out the amount by which an aircraft-borne camera was tilted when any particular photograph was taken. Once the tilt was determined, the photograph would then be ‘rectified’ to produce a map section economically.

An Ordnance Survey spokesmon in Southampton said: ‘At present, we are making about 25,000 rectifications a year and the tilt analyser is now saving about £60,000 annually.’

Mr Blogg, a former warrant officer in the Royal Engineers, was attached to Ordnance Survey during his army service.

He credited his invention to ‘a love of making things and basic laziness.’