The world's first jet packs which attach to people's backs and let them fly through the air took to the skies over the river Thames yesterday, and are set to become available for use by the British public from next year.

The James Bond-style mode of transport is the only jet pack ever built that can be carried on the pilot’s back with relative ease, and are powered by two turbine jet engines which have been specially adapted after many years of development.

They can fly for up to 10 minutes and reach speeds of 60 mph (96 kph). The invention is a throwback to the 1965 James Bond film, Thunderball, in which the fictional spy, played then by Sean Connery, used a "rocket belt" to escape from Colonel Jacques Bouvar's château.