A HEREFORD man takes centre stage on a new television show this month.

Justin Chieffo, who runs his company Be-Eco with wife Michele, has been selected from thousands of other hopefuls to appear in Tycoon - an ITV production which offers one entrepreneur the chance to build a business from scratch.

Presented by multi-millionaire businessman Peter Jones, the show will feature Justin and six other hopefuls in their bid to successfully market a new idea.

In Justin's case he has an environmentally-friendly portable carrier-bag dispenser which can hold up to 30 reusable bags - an idea that was devised by wife Michele and made by Be-Eco.

"Michele's definitely a big part of the business and I'm just one of the big mouths," said former Aylestone High School pupil Justin, a software developer by trade.

"She's very much the ideas person. We have two kids and we wanted to do the right thing regarding the environment."

Michele, who used to live in Wordsworth Road and married her husband at Hereford Register Office, is very honest about where the initial idea came from.

"I was actually in the shower when I thought of it," she said.

"With the two young children in the house it is one of the few occasions I get some time to myself. I thought of the idea, told Justin and it went from there."

Each contestant is given £10,000 to start with Peter Jones - one of the stars of the BBC's Dragon's Den - setting aside more of his own money for the budding entrepreneurs to use.

As with many reality shows, the programme has a ruthless streak. Failing businesses will be closed, while the winner - voted for by the public - will gain all profits from their rivals.

The seven hopefuls are currently living in Tycoon Tower' - a house in London which will be their base for the show's duration.

"The first thing we are going to do if I make some money is take the children to Lapland at Christmas as it's a once in a lifetime thing," said Justin.

Tycoon began on ITV on Tuesday and runs for the next six weeks.