Hotpoint Aquarius WDL 540 takes forever to dry?

When I first got this machine a year ago clothes dried quickly but were burning hot when the cycle finished I could hardly touch them, now it can take a couple of hours or more to get anything dried. It isn't because there is too much stuff in there at one time as I normally split the wash load into at least 3 drying amounts depending on what has been washed. Do these machines have a lint filter as it doesn't say anything about it in the manual & I can't find one anywhere, my last machine had one in the door. I have checked the filter in the kickboard part & it is fine. Any help would be gratefully received .
Laura