Inventor learns how to repel teenagers

LONDON, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The British inventor who developed the electronic Sonic Teenager Deterrent to dispel loitering teenagers can't keep up with demand for the $1,000 devices.

Howard Stapleton, 39, a businessman and former electronics apprentice at British Aerospace, came up with the idea when he learned people over the age of 20 lose the ability to hear high-frequency sounds. Using his four children as guinea pigs, he created the box, which emits 80-decibel bursts of pulsing sounds at up to 16 kilohertz.

To those under 20, it sounds like a demented insect or a very badly-played violin, The Telegraph reported. Adults don't hear it at all.

A number of police forces and city councils have endorsed the system and want to install them at teenagers hang-outs and trouble spots.

Clare Pritchard, the manager of a McDonald's restaurant on the outskirts of Manchester, bought the device to ward off teenagers using the car park to meet and illegally drink alcohol.

"It has definitely reduced the number of kids hanging around here," she said. "None of my customers have complained, although some of the staff have said it is driving them mad."