THEY dress in garish rompersuits, spend the day eating toast and custard, have TV's in their bellies, and now they are taking Blackburn by storm.

The Teletubbies have arrived with town-centre stores gearing up to meet what they believe will be a huge demand for products related to the four aliens.

There's even talk that they might beat the Spice Girls in the merchandising war in the run up to Christmas!

At the Blackburn branch of Argos, demand for a range of Teletubby soft toys is phenomenal.

Manager Tony Walker explained: "We are getting about 100 calls a day about them, which indicates they are going to be hugely popular.

"The only problem is we have none in stock at the moment and our suppliers are struggling to keep up with demand."

And at the near-by Ajaks Multi-Save store, the custard-consuming aliens are going head-to-head with the Spice Girls, with sales of posters for both going through the roof.

An Ajaks spokeswoman said: "The Teletubbies are very popular and the kids love them."

The Teletubbies attract two million viewers a show - even though children under five aren't included in the official viewing figures.

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