A LISKEARD author has used a peer-to-peer loan to realise his dream of releasing his own series of sci-fi novels.

Funded by lenders from Zopa, a lending and borrowing exchange, Bob Blackman set up his own publishing company and has since released the first volume of his humorous trilogy The Horsepower Whisperer.

It made the top 100 of Amazon's science fiction list, and Mr Blackman is now poised to release the second title in the series, The Wormton Lamb.

He said: "I've always wanted to be able to self-publish, as I feel like I'm really doing something on my own.

"This is why I loved the idea of funding the business with a peer-to-peer loan from Zopa."

Mr Blackman said he 'really liked' the idea of 'cutting out the middlemen of banking'.