London, June 29 (ANI): British baker Warburtons has created the world's first knife with a heated blade to solve the age-old problem of cold butter not spreading properly on bread.

The knife heats up to 41.8 degrees Celsius, powered by AA batteries in the handle - and melts the butter just enough to spread smoothly, without scraping holes in the bread.

A button on the handle activates the battery-operated heating element and a flashing LED indicates that it is on.

The model can spread a slice of bread in 30 seconds - although it's not clear when or if it will be released, or how much it will cost.

Researchers created the knife in association with bread baker Warburtons after a survey found that it was the most desired breakfast innovation.

Butter not spreading properly is one of the top five breakfast bugbears along with burnt toast and cold tea.

We've fine-tuned the knife's specifications to ensure the speediest heat-up and perfect temperature for spreading and we're thrilled with how well it works, the Daily Mail quoted Stuart Jones, from Warburtons, as saying.

A poll of 3,000 people revealed that 1 percent of Britishers - all of them men - have even resorted to heating the spread with a hair dryer to combat the problem.

A quarter - 28 percent - put the butter in the microwave, 8 percent put it on a plate on top of the toaster and 7 percent heat the knife on the hob.

It made complete sense to develop a tool to help busy Brits achieve the perfect even-spread on their toast, even when using butter straight from the fridge, Jones said.

Baking is a blend of expert craft and science and to make the perfect piece of toast it is essential to use a good-quality loaf that offers butterability, he added. (ANI)