BEANIE Baby fans in East Lancashire are up in arms over rumours that their favourite cuddly characters could be set to leave the shop shelves for good.

The American manufacturers of the bean filled soft toy animals are reported to have stopped manufacturing on the eve of the new millennium and begun clearing warehouses of surplus stock.

But many in the industry believe it is an elaborate promotion stunt.

At Benn's Toy Centre in Burnley, staff were told that they will not be getting any more stock.

"Some of the sales reps we get in were a bit sceptical about it at first but it looks like it is definitely happening," said Jenny Speak.

But she added that there was a theory that after a couple on months off the shelves public demand would force the manufacturers to bring them back, with a welcome jump in sales.

"I think people will be very upset if they disappear for good," she said.

Although they have been around for five years, Beanie Babies are still popular.

The latest releases to have gone down a storm at the store include Sheets - a ghost Beanie Baby, Slowpoke the sloth and Scales the lizard.

This year Beanie Babies faced stiff competition for a place on the list for Santa from East Lancashire youngsters.

Pokemon, Bob the Builder and WWF figures were bigger sellers.

Fears that Beanies would be coming to an end were first raised in August when manufacturers Ty Inc posted a message on their website saying that they would "retire" Beanies at the end of the year.

Ty Inc spokesman Anne Nickels said she had no idea why the cuddly toys were being discontinued and said that the decision to stop production was made by the firm's owner Ty Warner.

"We're just as much in the dark here as everybody else," she said.

Beanie Babies come in more than 100 animal forms and all have distinctive heart-shaped Beanie name tags.

Ty Inc began making them in 1993, starting a craze which made the company hundreds of millions of pounds.

A massive collecting industry has since grown up around the tots with some of the most collectible ones fetching as much as £3,750.

Beanies have been one of the most popular items featured on the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's AuctonHunter website (www.auctionhunter.co.uk)

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