Day of teddy bears is certainly no picnic as chaos reigns

A popular toy store promotion descended into chaos yesterday with some parents queuing up to six hours to bag a stuffed teddy bear for as little as £1.

Toy store Build a Bear hosted a “Pay Your Age Day” event asking parents to sign up online and head down to their store in the hope for a bargain toy. The toys usually retail between £25 and £30 depending on style and extras but mums with newborns could bag one for just £1.

Hordes of mums with pushchairs and kids were spotted in hours-long queues. Some had started queuing in Buchannan Galleries in Glasgow at 9.15am in the hope of bagging a bargain.

Alana McCarthy, 22, a civil servant and mum to seven-monthold Hallie said: “I’ve been here with my friend since 9.30am. We’ve been told we have another hour to wait but I don’t know.

“The timings keep on changing. I know a few stores have run out of bears but I am hoping by now they will know whether they had enough bears and we would have been told if they didn’t.”

Mum Vikki McDougall, 36, said: “I know someone who spent £101.50 for three bears at normal retail price so this is going to be cheaper.”

A Build-A-Bear spokeswoman said: “The response to our Pay Your Age Day event at all of our UK locations has been overwhelming and unprecedented in our 21-year history and the safety of our guests and associates is our top priority.”

Bearing it at Livingston.