During the long winter months, while they are in their workshop maintaining the Cherwell Boathouse's fleet of punts, boathouse manager Roger Forster and boat-builder Bob Dowling often bounce ideas for inventions off each other.

Most get no further than the drawing-board, but last year they came up with such a good one they decided to go ahead, make a prototype, and go into production.

They have designed a large outdoor table with integrated benches, similar to the ones found in pub gardens.

Theirs is made of solid English oak, measures three feet wide and up to 12 feet long, and the largest model can seat 12 people.

But it is not just the size or materials which make these tables unique: their special feature is they contain one or two integrated gas barbecues, so people can sit around them and cook their own food.

Mr Forster explained: "It makes the food much more of a focal point. It also means that the chef usually the dad, in a traditional barbecue scenario doesn't get left out.

"It's more sociable. Everyone sitting at the table gets involved."

You can cook your food to taste. Whether you like rare steak, or almost-burnt sausages, you can keep an eye on your meal as you enjoy a drink and chat with your friends.

The tables with two plates can be used to keep meat and vegetarian food separate.

Mr Forster was inspired partly by a restaurant he visited on holiday in the Canary Islands, where people cooked their own food at their tables on a hot rock' a reheated piece of volcanic pumice-stone.

He had also noticed that customers at Chinese restaurants enjoy the ritual and drama of sizzling hot plates.

But the idea also grew out of the material. They were offered some good quality seasoned local oak by a tree-surgeon and bought it without being sure exactly what they would make out of it.

Gradually, the idea for the barbecue tables took shape.

Mr Forster, 41, has an association with the Cherwell Boathouse which dates back to when he was eight, and used to help bale out the boats in exchange for 50p and an ice cream.

He watched the older men making and repairing boats and gradually picked up carpentry skills.

Mr Dowling, 50, trained as a general carpenter, and fell into boat-building by accident, when he filled in for an injured boat-builder at a boatyard on Port Meadow.

He explained: "Because I was there and they had an order for a punt, they said: Do you fancy having a go?'"

The boat-builder taught him how to make a punt, giving instructions from where he sat in the passenger seat of a car with both his legs in plaster.

Years later, in 1991, Mr Forster invited Mr Dowling to come and build punts at the Cherwell Boathouse.

The boats are beautifully crafted, as well as being tough and practical. You can tell if one has been built by Mr Dowling because he marks the box of the punt with a raised diamond.

As long-standing friends and colleagues, they work well together.

Mr Forster said: "We're both quite good at backing down if we realise the other person's idea is better."

Team work is also important in building the tables.

"A lot of the machining is two man stuff, because it's so heavy," added Mr Forster.

Neither was familiar with the casting process necessary for making the cast iron barbecue plate and surrounding collar' which fits snugly into the table, with spacers to ensure that the wood is not singed.

They carved a mould from wood and took it to Sandawana Castings in Witney where it was turned into a sand mould for casting.

The duo are pleased to have made a product from mainly local materials, and believe this to be one of its selling points.

Mr Dowling said: "It's green, because we haven't spent thousands of air miles bringing in the wood from somewhere else."

The prototype has been tested at parties at Mr Forster's house, where it has worked well and been quite a talking point.

They are now hoping that a brewery, hotel, or restaurant chain will see the potential of having the tables in their gardens, and put in a bulk order.

The set-up might prove especially useful for pubs which do not have large kitchens, but which would like to serve food in summer.

All tables will be built to customers' requirements, hence the company name Bespoke Oak.

Prices start from £1,500 for the smallest table, with one barbecue plate. Because of the quality of the materials and construction, they should last for decades, with some minimal maintenance such as re-oiling.

"Something as big and butch as this is going to outlast me!" said Mr Dowling.

n Contact Roger Forster on 01869 351 235 or 07970 162 742