SUPPLIERS of the latest toy craze aimed at children aged just six are cleaning up their act after the Citizen uncovered instructions littered with offensive words. Youngsters all over Lancaster and Morecambe have been queuing up to buy cyberpets, little electric animals with all the needs of ordinary pets that originate from Japan and China. Many stores have sold out within hours of receiving their first batch.

But trading standards officials and community groups were shocked by language in a leaflet found in one brand.

The toy, My Baby Dinosaur, requires all the attention of a normal pet such as feeding, exercising and cleaning - with instructions referring to toilet training in foul language. One outraged parent rang the Citizen to complain and said: "It's another deplorable product that seems to be part of a coarsening trend in society.

The language in some other things such as children's magazines has been awful for years and it's almost as if there's a competition to see who can get worse than the rest."

The cyberpet mess has been looked into by Trading Standards officers who are aware that the pets have become a craze for young children.

A spokesman said: "It seems to be a translation problem from Japanese to English. The suppliers of cyberpets have been informed about the inappropriate language and are making moves to resolve the problem."

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