DON'T touch unless you're serious! The famous African fertility statues are in Lancashire again.

And since their last visit to the county five years ago, the patter of tiny feet and even little paws have followed in their footsteps.

Lynne Atkinson, of St Andrew's Avenue, Ashton, is living proof.

Five years ago, after six IVF treatments and still no baby, she was at the point of despair.

Lynne, 36, and husband Trevor, 40, spent around £2,500 in their efforts to conceive a brother or sister for daughter, Laura, now 13.

"I couldn't believe it when I realised I was pregnant only a month after touching the statue," says Lynne.

"Our daughter Lois is now four, but Trevor has since had 'the snip' so I wouldn't be scared of touching the statue again!" she says. Beverley McDonald, 31, from Stockport, had a similar experience.

Beverley had been taking the contraceptive pill for two and a half years when she touched the five foot high, hand-carved female statue, for a dare. Three months later she was pregnant with son, Keane, now four.

The ebony king and queen from Africa's Ivory Coast were brought from Seattle to Ripley's Believe It Or Not 'odditorium', on Ocean Boulevard, Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Tribal legend says that a touch to either of the statues, which weigh 70lb each, will assure fertility.

They will be in the seaside resort until November 3 for all to see and touch for free.

And apparently, they even work on animals. After she pawed the potent pair on their last visit, Blackpool Pleasure Beach's own Mystique doggy star, St Bernard, Schnorbitz, felt the fertility powers and was blessed with a litter of puppies.