HERE'S a business idea which should draw the foot-weary punters at June's Ascot Races in York.

Called Foot Fetish, it is a curry-powered foot-massaging station which would be a service particularly welcomed by York Racecourse visitors who have to bear the weight of large hats on teetering high heels.

They can be murder on the tootsies in the to-ing and fro-ing to the tote.

Curry powered? Definitely. This was the brainchild of three members of the Curry Company, the exclusive club for York business people who regularly meet in the city's Asian restaurants to curry favour over their favourite curry.

At the last meeting all were set the task of creating a business idea linked to Ascot which would generate the most publicity.

Winner - you could say in toto - was a team consisting of Norman Whyte, chief executive of York, Selby & Malton Business Advice Centres, Andy Milson of York publishers Stone Soup and Paul Meakin, head of marketing at the Central Science Laboratory at Sand Hutton.

Norman said: "Race meetings are only possibly hard on the pocket, but definitely hard on the feet. Five pounds for a ten minute manipulation of aching foot muscles would be worth it.

"If anyone volunteered to take forward the concept, I'd be prepared to give them advice all the way. This idea literally has legs."

The man working his reflexology magic is Peter Harrington, managing director of QA Research and Brackenhill Design of York who is the founder of the Curry Company.

It was a gesture of huge goodwill because he was a member of the runner-up team, consisting of Derek Parry, of Smart & Cook and Debbie Davies, of York St John College.

Their idea? Organising a whole squadron of two-person microlytes to transport punters who want to avoid the traffic converging on York. "There are plenty of airfields around York where they can take off and places on Knavesmire where they can land without frightening the horses," said Peter. "From there they would be escorted to their private tent with all the food and Champagne luxuries laid on.

"But the winning idea, we concede, has its business feet firmly planted on the ground."

Updated: 10:50 Wednesday, March 30, 2005