Harry hoovers up vintage vacuums

As a baby, the hum of a vacuum cleaner had the same effect as a lullaby, as he slept through his mum's housework.

Later, he was not content with a toy vacuum cleaner – so for his fourth birthday his parents gave him a 'Henry'.

Now while his friends are mad on computer games and football matches, there's nothing Harry likes better than hoovering up vacuum cleaners – and the older the better.

He's a mother's dream, as he not only likes to work with his grandfather Derek Burrows to maintain and recondition cleaners but also to use them to help with the housework.

His collection includes a 1930s Electrolux model, which he has entered into Cradley Heath electrical company Chapmans' competition to find the oldest working domestic electrical appliance in the Black Country.

Harry is also the proud owner of two pump action, non-electrical vacuums from the early 1900s, a 1960s Hoover Junior and a 1940s Electrolux. His parents have lost count of the number of the appliances he has scattered around their home in Lapal, Halesowen, but mother Sarah reckons there are as many as 40.

He saves up his pocket money to buy them, with an alert from eBay set up to tell him when an interesting one comes up for sale – he is currently on the lookout for a Kirby model from the 1960s. The 'bank of mum and dad' has also helped him to buy them, paying between £5 and £100 for each cleaner. "He's into anything electrical but especially vacuum cleaners," said

Harry's father, Paul, aged 37, a surveyor for Worcestershire County Council. "We've got them in the loft, living room, spare bedroom and they are in Harry's bedroom."

Harry, a pupil at Halesowen's Howley Grange Primary School, said: "I don't really know why I like them so much – perhaps it's because my grandpa is an electrician.

"My favourite is a 1960s Dirt Devil because it's the best for picking up my Jack Russell dog Jacket's hairs.