The new designs of the C2 taser, which delivers a 50,000 volt shock if it is fired

It is the new must-have accessory - an MP3 player which also holds a taser with a 50,000 volt charge that will lay any attacker flat on the floor.

The creation by an American stun gun manufacturer, called the Taser Music Player Holster, is already being dubbed the iTaser.

An MP3 player is handily hidden in the casing so that people can nonchalantly listen to music but still have a 50,000 volt charge to hand should they run into trouble.

The holster comes in red, pink and even leopard print and contains an MP3 player

The taser, which is being unveiled at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, also comes in "fashion" pink, "red hot" red and leopard print designs in a bid to make it more fashionable.

Arizona-based Taser International is hoping its latest product will be a particular hit with women who would not usually consider buying a taser because it is too ugly.

Company spokesman Peter Holran said: "Women want whatever they're carrying - from a lipstick case to their eyeglass case to their Taser - to look nice and be something they won't mind if it falls out of their purse."

The company produced the "iTaser" because it wanted to make it easier for people to integrate it into their lives.

Mr Holran said: "If people buy the C2 Taser and leave it in a drawer or under a shelf, it does them no good when they need it."

The iTaser gun: Designer weapon delivers 50,000 volt shock... and doubles as an MP3 player

Ten police forces in England and Wales use Tasers and forces from Devon and Cornwall to north Wales and Northumbria have issued the stun guns to previously unarmed officers.

They generate a 50,000 volt charge which shoots through two small probes and causes instant neuro-muscular incapacitation, forcing the recipient to crumple to the floor.

Although illegal for personal use in the UK, they are available to buy in the US with a licence and Taser International says they are even being sold in mobile phone shops.

The company shipped about 7,000 of the C2 model during the third quarter of 2007, according to US reports.

But their private use is controversial, and Amnesty International claims they have been linked with more than 70 deaths in America.