Talk about the cost of living in-creases! Harrods is selling an ironing board for £3,999.

For that price you might expect some super-smart accessories, a uniformed maid to press your clothes, perhaps.

But no. The pricey Laurastar x Germanier Ironing System comes only with an inbuilt water tank for making expensive steam and its own ultra-posh iron.

That said, it is a work of art, part of a numbered, limited edition, and buyers receive a key chain made in Paris from upcycled Swarovski crystals, perhaps to lock the board away from envious friends.

Marketed as a 'bold yet functional addition to your laundry room', the Laurastar Smart ironing system is said to cut ironing time in half and is designed to last for a generation. Which for the same price as a small car, or 222 Habitat medium ironing boards from Argos, is probably the least you could expect.

This model – launched during Paris Fashion Week last year – is a collaboration between Laurastar and the avant garde Swiss fashion designer Kevin Germanier, a graduate of the Central St Martins art college in London.

He says he had a 'cool vision of merging the catwalk and backstage, my creation shining under the spotlight…'

And indeed the designer, a favourite of pop stars Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, has created a hand-stitched cover which is so prettily iridescent that you might want to wear it, rather than iron on it.

Or you might wonder if anyone really needs a £4,000 ironing board, given the irony that anyone who can afford one will probably never have to do their own ironing.

It failed to impress one Harrods customer, however, who described it as 'a little flimsy considering how much it costs'.

She added: 'Up close you're really struck by how big it is and it also looks as if it could be pretty heavy to carry around with the tank attached.

'Admittedly the colours do look quite cool and it's much, much sleeker than any other I've seen – but it's more of a spaceship than an ironing board!'