REBECCA Lewis's dad is the man who gave the world paper knickers.

His disposable undies were the height of fashion in the Sixties, but soon became relegated to operating theatres and maternity shops.

But now Rebecca, who lives in Sale, is helping him get them back into millions of underwear drawers.

Their paper pants, sold as ''Zero'' are back in fashion, on sale in almost every chemist shop in the country.

The family company, Dailys Ltd, sells more than 13 million pairs in the UK every year and demand is growing.

Marketing manager Rebecca and her managing director dad David Sallon are targeting women with hectic lifestyles.

The firm employs 2,600 people at a factory in China, 350 of them working exclusively on paper knickers.

Rebecca said: ''The market for paper knickers was there in the Sixties, so we saw no reason why we couldn't make them popular again.

''There will always be a slight giggle factor about them but they're amazingly practical.

''It's basically a re-education process, to make people realise that they're fun, but they're also really versatile. The reception so far has been fantastic.''

The disposable knickers are made of a special non-woven fabric which David first used to make shirts and dresses in the Sixties.

David said: ''The material is like a sophisticated J-Cloth and really took off in the free love atmosphere of the Sixties. When the dresses and shirts started proved popular, I made up some knicker samples and Dorothy Perkins decided to stock them.

''We then started a major production line with 150 people and the whole idea began to grow.

''The mini-skirted 20-somethings loved them, so we soon had a factory with 800 people.

''Unfortunately, we over-estimated the market and ended up with three aircraft hangars full of them.

''We are constantly on the look-out for more stockists - the problem is usually that the buyers don't know where to place them in the stores.''