CLINGING onto childhood memories has spurred a woman on to throw a huge collectors' fair in Morecambe.

Victoria Stapleton has a passion for collecting My Little Pony goods - an obsession she has kept a closely guarded secret.

But now she is about to hold a massive collectors' convention at the Morecambe Platform which has sparked interest from across the globe.

Like most young girls in the 1980s, Victoria was bought My Little Ponies and had about 25 of the plastic models. Then, when she was 16, she got rid of her childhood things.

But just three years later she wished she had held back.

Victoria says: "I was just doing a random search on the Internet for 1980s toys and 60 pages came up for My Little Pony merchandise. When I looked on I saw that the ponies were going for anything up to £500.

"I had always liked them and found myself starting to buy some - and then it spiralled."

She had accumulated an impressive 400 ponies by 2002.

The web design student at the Adult College, Lancaster, says she realises that her collecting habit is 'different', but says: "My friends have accepted it really well, I do not get stick for it and some have even started to get interested in collecting."Victoria has already organised for a professional artist to visit her convention to demonstrate how to customise a pony. And she has Deborah Birge, the author of the official My Little Pony book, travelling from the USA to do a book signing session.

"I think it is going to be a big thing. When I first thought of doing it I did not expect that I would have this response but already people have said they are coming from Holland, USA and Ireland - it is brilliant," she says.

At the event on November 27, there will be around 30 stalls selling My Little Pony goods but Victoria says people do not have to be enthusiasts to hold a stall.

She is hoping for sponsorship to help cover the cost, and says any proceeds from the event will go to the Horse and Pony Protection Association.