CUNNING conmen are preying on parents desperate to get hold of Teletubby dolls by selling them cheap fakes, just weeks after Trading Standards warned parents to be on their guard.

The Teletubbies - four brightly-coloured, rompersuited, aliens - are the latest craze to sweep the nation's nurseries and play groups, with parents queuing for hours outside toy shops to find one of the stuffed toys.

With demand at such a level, legitimate manufacturers are struggling to produce enough toys for Christmas and fly-by-night salesman are cashing in by selling cheaper, unlicensed versions.

Only three weeks ago, Trading standards official Jim Potts told Citizen readers to be on their guard for fakes.

Now, fake toys are being sold on Blackburn streets to unsuspecting parents.

Mr Potts told the Citizen today: "Shoddy fakes of popular toys always start appear in the run up to Christmas.

"Unfortunately, people who sell these fakes tend not to pay any attention to toy safety rules, opting instead to produce fake goods at cheap prices to entice parents who have been unable to buy the goods anywhere else.

"These fake Teletubbies could be highly flammable, contain toxic paints with lead extracts and have loose facial features which a youngster could choke on.

"They are potentially lethal. I would advise all parents to give them a very wide berth and report any dodgy goods to us."

Street salesmen have been spotted in the centre of Blackburn and neighbouring towns selling a range of counterfeit Teletubby goods as well as toys. These include posters, helium-inflated balloons and tapes of nursery rhymes, sung by the Teletubbies, which aren't authorised and are of a poorer standard.

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