DYSON has been forced hastily to retract its “get back to work” order to staff following workers’ defiant mutiny.

Thousands of Dyson staff have been working from home in line with government advice, but managers attempted to force them back in following PM Boris Johnson’s confusing “stay alert – work from home if you can” advice, including those with vulnerable family members. 

However staff, including workers from factories at Hullavington and Malmesbury in Wiltshire and London offices, rebelled and continued to work from home.

As a result, Dyson informed staff on Tuesday that it had “reviewed the practicalities” and withdrawn the “proposal.”

One staff member said: “Everyone was very unhappy. It was pretty rough.

“If they’d had their way, there would have been 2,500 people in the office and I’d estimate 60 per cent of those could work from home with a low impact.”

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: “This is an important example of how many employers will interpret weak, unclear and confusing messages about a safe return to work from government."

Dyson is owned by Britain’s richest man, inventor James Dyson.

In 2002 and 2003 he sacked hundreds of his factory workers in Britain and transferred their jobs to the Far East, doubling his profits from £18 million to about £40m.

He lives in Singapore’s most expensive apartment.

A statement from Dyson said: “The health, wellbeing and job security of Dyson people have been our priority throughout the crisis, as we have always made clear."