A lightweight, flexible sandstone for internal and external use that was developed in Germany is now being promoted in the UK. It is called Ytterston and was developed by Heiko Neupert after 25 years in the construction industry. In 2004 it won the Grand Prix at the Inventors\' Trade Fair in Geneva.

It consist of a 3mm slice of natural sandstone in three grades, from rough to smooth, on a flexible backing of negligible thickness. It comes in various sizes up to panels 2.6 x 1.3m, weighs just 5kg/m2 and costs £70/m2. If it sounds expensive, the makers say there are considerable savings in the costs of installation compared with stone tiles or slabs because of the speed and ease with which it can be applied. It can be bent round and inside large diameter curves and can be cut into required sizes using a knife to cut the backing and then snapping the stone over a straight edge. It is fixed with an interior or exterior tile cement and can be waterproofed with a polyurethane sealant.