Bag provides its own light

LONDON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- An English university student may have solved women's age-old problem of finding items in a handbag.

Rosanna Kilfidder told the BBC that she got the idea for her Sun Trap handbag when she saw friends using their cell telephones as improvised flashlights as they looked for keys or lipsticks.

The Sun Trap has a solar cell on the outside that provides power for a battery that runs the electroluminescent lining. The zipper switches the light on and off, although if a user forgets to close the zipper the lining will also go dark if the bag is open for more than 15 seconds.

As icing on the cake, the battery can also be used to get an emergency charge for a cell phone.

"I had the idea for Sun Trap handbag after seeing so many friends frantically searching their bags for house keys, usually on a dark doorstep," Kilfidder said.

Kilfidder is a student at Brunel University, which has several campuses on the outskirts of London. She has already won an entrepreneurs' award there, and the Brunel Enterprise Center is helping her with marketing plans for the Sun Trap.