Road kill teddies

A soft toy designer has come up with a macabre new range of road kill teddies.

The first to be launched is Twitch the Raccoon which comes complete with its own body bag to keep the maggots out, reports Metro.

Twitch also has an identity tag revealing it was "run over over by a milk float last Thursday, near the Hangar Lane Giratory system in London".

A zip on each side of the toy allows the owner to remove Twitch's innards and stuff them back in again. A tyre print runs across its back.

Creators, Compost Communications, style themselves 'toy terrorists' and according to their website: "We squash and burn and bludgeon and maim. But we're also toy fanatics like you. We love toys."

Toy creator Adam Arber, 33, from London, said: "I got the idea from looking at my mother-in-law's dog which is quite ugly and I thought it would make a great toy. A friend of mine had taken some pictures of road kill and the two things gelled into one idea."

He said he thought the toys, which cost £25, would appeal to people with a sense of humour and "probably not anyone easily upset".

Coming soon are other characters including Grind the rabbit, Splodge the hedgehog and Pop the weasel.

The toys go on sale this week at Play Lounge in Soho, London, and from mid-December on www.roadkilltoys.com.