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Trying to spread cold, hard butter onto soft bread can be a frustrating task.

But now there's a dish that solves the problem by heating up to keep the butter at the optimum consistency for spreading and also cools it in the summer.

It plugs into the mains and can be left turned on so that the butter is ready to use at any time.

Butterly brilliant: David Alfille, 54, has invented a butter dish (pictured) that heats up to keep the butter at the optimum consistency for spreading and also cools it in the summer

David Alfille, 54, came up with the idea after getting frustrated when he couldn't butter his bread on cold mornings without tearing the slice because it hadn't softened enough.

His dish, which is six inches (15cm) wide, five inches (13cm) long and four inches (10cm) tall, plugs into the mains and has a dial on the bottom so people can adapt the temperature to suit their needs, warming the spread to between 15 and 23°C.

It also has a small fan in the base of the dish, which works like an air conditioner for the spread in hot temperatures, while the butter tray can be removed and cleaned in a dishwasher.

The dish has a small fan in its base (shown) which works like an air conditioner for the spread in hot temperatures, while the butter tray can be removed and cleaned in a dishwasher

Mr Alfille, from Ticehurst in East Sussex worked with a design company in Wales to make his idea a reality. It is manufactured in China and the process took two years.

'It's similar to a mini-fridge but it will heat and cool, he said.

'With modern technology there's a little plate called a thermo-electric cooler - one side of it gets hot and the other gets cold.

'What we have done is changed the polarity round so sometimes it heats and sometimes it cools.

'Generally you would keep the butter at about 18.5°C, or 19.5°C for unsalted butter. But the dish means in winter you can heat it up and in summer you can keep it cooler so it doesn't spread too thinly.'

He explained that he thought of the idea when he couldn't spread his butter one day.

'It was really frustrating me and I don't like spreadables, I like real butter and a lot of people do. 

Mr Alfille, from Ticehurst in East Sussex worked with a design company in Wales to make his idea a reality, which was manufactured in China. The process took two years. The dish (pictured) is designed to be constantly plugged in to the mains so that butter is kept at the perfect temperature all the time

'There's a big trend back towards butter, I think something like 70 per cent of the UK still use butter and that has grown four per cent over the last few years.'

Mr Alfille did lots of research and conducted focus groups to get the design right.

'People don't realise how much technology goes into it. The biggest thing was trying to get all the electronics into something small enough, because we didn't want something massive and unsightly,' he explained.

'We wanted something small and pretty that could sit beside your kettle and toaster and look part of the kitchen.'

The dish is available from Mr Alfille's website and costs £34.99, with a stainless steel version priced at £39.99.

KNIFE 'GRATES' HARD BUTTER SO IT CAN BE USED FROM THE FRIDGE

A stainless steel gadget called ButterUp has been invented that looks like a normal knife, but has 21 triangular holes down the blade to 'grate' butter.

The tiny strips of butter that are created are easier to spread than a knife loaded with a block of spread, so people can avoid tearing holes in their sandwiches.

A stainless steel gadget called ButterUP (pictured) has been invented that looks like a normal knife, but has 21 triangular holes down the blade to 'grate' butter

The other side of the knife has a serrated edge so that it can be used to cut the sandwich or toast in half or get rid of the crusts.

ButterUp, is the brainchild of friends Sacha Pantschenko, 29, Norman Oliveria, 27, and Craig Andrews, 48.

Mr Pantschenko, from Sydney, Australia, explained: 'This is a time saving gadget because you don't have to wait for the butter to reach room temperate before you use it and stops you from tearing up the bread.'

The knife is expected to retail at between £6 to £8 ($10 to $13.30).