After years of strife, this cabbie says that he saved his marriage by inventing a pillow to stop himself from snoring.

42-year-old Phil Moore was forced to sleep alone for five years because his loud snoring was too much for his 43-year-old wife Stephanie, banished to nights on the living room sofa.

His loud wheezing and spluttering, which sounds like a "steam train", caused a rift in the marriage – and left Stephanie in tears at the end of the bed.

But Phil had a revelation when he designed a pillow to stop the snoring – and ironically, the idea came to him in a dream.

And now, the pillow is hitting shop shelves after a chance encounter with a patent lawyer in the back of his cab.

The special pillow, which costs £169 ($217), is flexible with a raised center so that people can sleep on their fronts and place their hands comfortably underneath.

Phil said: "My wife was at her wit's end. I remember her sitting crying on the end of the bed. She's been through a lot. It was putting so much strain on our marriage and became really difficult to cope with.

"When our boy was born it was really tough. The baby would wake up in the night and then she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep because of my snoring. Then one day I woke up with the idea – and I said to my wife, ‘here, I've dreamt of this thing'.

"It's scientifically proven that sleeping on your front reduces snoring, but unfortunately, it's the most uncomfortable position to sleep in. I used to wake up with pins and needles from lying on my arms.

"This way, you can lie on your front and reduce snoring."

Phil and Stephanie, who live in Seaford, East Sussex., have three children: Rosaria, 21, Laila-Mae, 17, and Harrison, 10.

Stephanie, who helps run the pillow business, said: "Phil has snored for years. It sounds like a train – he had his mouth wide open and head back all through the night.

"I would nudge him to roll onto his front, and he still snored, but not as a bad.

"I was sleeping downstairs on the sofa for five years. Not sleeping in the same room for years isn't nice, [but] I just couldn't bear it anymore. The living room became my bedroom.

"We would argue and it felt like were going out of sync even though we loved each other.

"I filmed him [snoring] on a few occasions and he was quite embarrassed," says Stephanie. "Those videos won't see the light of day.

"I would push my hand under his chin in the dead of night to see if it would help and it would stop for a few seconds. Imagine my relief to experience silence. Then when I removed my hand, he would start again."

The pillow is called MooreZzzleep and was launched at The MooreZzzleep Store in Seaford at the start of November.

On the firm's website, it is described as "the ideal pillow for side sleepers, front sleepers and back sleepers" and has a "flexible curved shape, with a distinctive hollow area for your arms".

The description says it "enables you to lay comfortably on your front or side" and "keeps your head and neck supported when lying on your back".

Pillowcases cost £19.99 and are available in cream or white.

(WATCH the video below)

Don't Let Your Friends Sleep On This Story: Share It To Social Media