100 today, dad of PC Shiny Buttons

A FORMER policeman who invented a talking toy dog to teach generations of schoolchildren about safety is celebrating his 100th birthday today – with the original toy.

Robert Badger, known to friends as Bob or Bobby, was born on May 10, 1921 in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, and joined Strathclyde Police after serving in the RAF during the Second World War.

The great-grandfather became a hit with schoolchildren in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he hid a walkie-talkie inside a toy dog with long ears, and invited questions – which his partner would answer, making it seem as though the toy was talking.

Daughter Patricia Mungall, 71, said: ‘He knew so many people, I’m like his private secretary. He’s looking forward to getting his card from the Queen.’