Dog-O-Matic

When a dog comes home from a walk filthy and smelling of something unmentionable, the temptation sometimes is to throw the darn thing in the washing machine.

Well, now you can. An entrepreneur has come up with the Dog-O-Matic, a mini car-wash that transforms pets from filthy to fluffy in half an hour.

Frenchman Romain Jarry, 31, who insists the device is not cruel, hopes to introduce it to Britain next year after it proved a huge success in his home town of St Max, near Nancy.

Mr Jarry said: 'It doesn't take long to wash the dog - usually a few minutes. The longest part is the drying. The dogs don't seem to get bored. They just sit there and they come out clean.

'We are really hoping it will take off and that other places will start buying in the machines.

'I would love them to be available in England within the next year or so but at the moment people are still getting used to the idea.'