TWO decades after bringing in the bagless vacuum cleaner, Dyson’s engineers at Malmesbury have produced the world’s first filterless machine.

The Dyson Cinetic™ vacuum is the result of nearly six years intensive research and development by a team of 29 engineers and an investment of £7.5m. A total 2,000 prototypes were developed in the process.

They spent 9,000 hours testing their creation – the equivalent of 500 years of vacuuming in the home and spent £136,000 on special “aggressive” dust, running their suppliers dry, to test its effectiveness.

Founder James Dyson said: “Getting rid of bags solved the frustration of my vacuum losing suction. But washing filters - or worse – buying them, is still a nuisance. Dyson Cinetic cyclones are so efficient at separating microscopic particles that everything gets thrust into the bin, and you can forget about fussy filters.”

The secret is in cyclones with flexible tips that oscillate and prevent dust from clogging them up. Dyson have almost 200 patents pending or registered on the machine, which will retail at between £419 and £469.