Last year, a new audiobook of a much-loved Oxford classic appeared on shop shelves in and around Oxford. Alice in Wonderland and Nonsense Verse & Prose is set to be the first of many books from Oxford Storypods.

Francis Ainley and his wife Elizabeth Yoe Ainley are planning to take on the big publishers by using MP3 technology and concentrating on the wealth of writing and acting talent around Oxfordshire.

This first book has a cast of actors all drawn from around Oxford and has won great reviews from Christina Hardyment in the Times and the Lewis Carroll Society of North America.

The book was chosen, in part, because Lewis Carroll's works are out of copyright. Mr Ainley said: "There were other reasons as well. It's got a huge Oxford connection, of course. We think it's a fantastic work and we thought it would give an opportunity to use a different number of actors."

The idea of making audio books came from their own love of listening to stories and the wish to make them more convenient for the user through MP3 technology.

"The advantage of MP3 is that you can get far more content material into a smaller amount of space," he said.

"We would have required three CDs if we hadn't used MP3, which increases our costs and everybody's along the line."

Instead, they have been able to fit not only the unabridged version of Lewis Carroll's famous book, but also some of his other works such as Jabberwocky and The Mad Gardener's Song onto one MP3 CD that lasts three hours and 30 minutes.

This means they can retail the book at £9.95 in MP3 CD format, while it is a very reasonable £6.95 to download from their website.

It also makes things much simpler for the reader, who does not have to scrabble about trying to find the next instalment. The last Harry Potter, for example, takes up seven CDs.

Surprisingly, although you can find audiobooks in an MP3 format in the United States, the Ainleys are ahead of the field in this country. Their book can be played on MP3 players, as well as DVDs and some CDs.

"More and more cars are coming on the market with MP3 capability," Mr Ainley said.

Next up is the other Lewis Carroll classic, Through the Looking Glass. After that, the Ainleys have plans for more books, which remain under wraps for now.

They have chosen to focus on publishing books and authors with Oxfordshire connections.

"Content, authors and actors," was how Mrs Yoe Ainley put it.

"I think Oxfordshire has such a wealth of talent. There's quite a lot we could mine. It's a very unusual place in terms of the concentration of talent and ability."

They want to dispel the myth that audiobooks are aimed at the visually-impaired.

"It's not just for people with visual problems - that is an incorrect perception," Mrs Yoe Ainley said.

Mr Ainley added: "I used to listen to them driving to work in Swindon - an hour there and back. It was a perfect time for taking your mind off things. You have some wonderful experiences."

The couple have worked together before. In the 1970s, Mrs Yoe Ainley ran a boutique in Amsterdam, while her husband was working in the IT industry over there.

"Although Francis was working during the week, he did help me at the weekends. He was very good at selling dresses," she said.

They both learned a lot about running a business, but when they returned to England in 1981, Mr Ainley continued to work in the IT industry while his wife looked after their three sons, now grown-up, who have used their skills in web-building, graphic design and Photoshop on the Oxford Storypod venture.

Mrs Yoe Ainley then trained as a teacher, before working in various schools around Oxford, helping pupils with dyslexia.

"Audiobooks are invaluable for dyslexics who find reading difficult or a chore," she said.

"I constantly encouraged dyslexic students to listen to audiobooks. For the gifted ones, audiobooks were also recommended to enable access to literature that was above their chronological age level but on a par with their intellect."

When Mr Ainley took voluntary redundancy, the couple decided to set up Oxford Storypods together.

He said: "We have complementary skills. I'm the IT and the technical person, also doing the bean counting and financial bits and pieces and Liz has got very good business leadership skills, as well as all the creative side."

As the company is at such an early stage, the couple feel they can offer a high degree of flexibility to potential clients - including publishing audio memoirs for those looking to provide something for their family, partner, or grandchildren.

The audio recording service is also available to businesses or other organisations who wish to use it for making radio adverts, or to distribute information within their organisations.