TOOL BOX: All this, and you don't have to bend

As its name indicates, the patented Grabber Rake from Blackwall Products is a simple, functional, multi-purpose implement aimed at those who believe in keeping their gardens tidy.

The Grabber Rake's 4ft-long tubular metal handle is slotted and screwed into hinged, two-piece, 16in-wide plastic jaws. One jaw is deeply "toothed" to form an effective rake. Closing the jaws, to gather up the leaves or other debris that have been raked into a pile, involves nothing more complicated than sliding a plastic collar a few inches down the handle.

The Grabber Rake also commends itself for being reasonably light and, of course, virtually eliminating the need to bend unless you are much taller than the average adult. In some ways it recalls Standard Manufacturing's aluminium Super Grab - a sort of giant, two-handled rubbish scoop.

Blackwall's alternative cannot cope with such large objects - the Super Grab can be opened to 180 degrees - but the rake function makes it twice as versatile. The mail-order price is attractive at £15.95, including delivery.

Blackwall Products, Units 1,2,4 Riverside Industrial Estate, 150 River Way, London SE10 0BH (081-305 1431).