Designer Philippe Starck has created a spotlight that can be adjusted with a broomstick.

The French designer – best known for products including the Juicy Salif lemon squeezer and the Louis Ghost Chair – got the idea for the product after watching a waiter using a broom handle to reposition the lighting in a New York restaurant.

"And I said, it's so simple!" Starck told Dezeen. "We have invented a new way of turning [the spotlight], we have designed a circle where the broomstick fits in to adjust the light."

Called Freesixty, the flush-mounted spot light is produced by Flos and is part of Starck's new collection of LED lights for the Italian brand. The lamp can be rotated through 360 degrees.

Starck said it was important to be able to direct the light beam in restaurants, in order to create "a beautiful spot of light in the perfect centre of the table, like a candle."

However tables are often repositioned, meaning the spotlights need to be easily adjustable.

The low-tech broomstick solution was better than high-tech systems such as remote-controlled lights, which were too expensive, Starck said.

"There are remote-control spotlights, which are very costly; nobody can afford it," he said. "I’ve tried to put it in all my architecture and nobody pays for that."

Starck has designed a special telescopic stick to use with the light – although a regular broom handle would work as well.

The designer – who describes himself as an "inventor, creator, architect, designer, artistic director" – has also recently launched a collection of electric bicycles and a series of prefabricated houses.