Dyson Group said the business and its founder Sir James Dyson had paid £1.5bn in tax over five years

The inventor Sir James Dyson is an investor in three different film schemes run by firms embroiled in tax-avoidance scandals, The Sunday Times can reveal.

The 71-year-old vacuum cleaner tycoon is a member of Tamar Films, Tyne Films and Future Screen Partners — all schemes that delay the payment of taxes.

The prominent Brexit supporter, who is worth £7.8bn according to The Sunday Times Rich List, has argued that Britain can make its own way in the world.

Yet last month he dashed hopes that he would build an electric car in the UK, preferring Singapore, where his vacuum cleaners are assembled, for the £2bn facility.

By buying up swathes of agricultural land in Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, Dyson has also become Britain’s biggest farmer.