Guilty parents spark toys boom

Guilt-wracked couples who split up have boosted toy sales by lavishing gifts on their children, till receipts revealed today.

Latest figures reveal a 5.4 per cent rise in sales to £2billion, beating industry predictions in spite of declining birth rates.

Bryan Ellis, chairman of the British Toy and Hobby Foundation, said: "Because you have got more broken families, children these days quite frequently have two sets of parents, so the expenditure per child is rising by more than enough to compensate for the falling birth rate."

The sharp rise is a boost for an industry which has suffered from the growing popularity of video games and a syndrome known in the industry as KGOY: kids getting older younger.

Experts claim this is caused by children losing interest in toys at a much younger age as they are attracted to those using the latest technology.

However, NPD market research group found that last year's best selling products were updated versions of traditional favourites. Little spinning tops called Beyblades led the sales charts. Dolls' houses were the fastest growing area of toy sales with Barbie, Lego and Monopoly still popular.

Technology still made its mark, with Leapfrog's LeapPad electronic learning system and the VJ Starz karaoke machine becoming the second and third biggest selling toys last year.

This year's craze is for dance mates. The devices are plugged into TV sets or video games machines so the user can learn dance steps by following letters that light up on the mats. Sales of toy food mixers have soared thanks to the popularity of cookery TV shows.

Despite their popularity, however, the teddy bear's position as a traditional favourite seems safe. Mr Ellis said: "Children are still into cuddling things, they are still into collecting things. The basic play patterns haven't changed."