A senior police officer is urging British parents to stop buying their children toy guns. Michael Todd, chief constable of Greater Manchester, has gone on record asking parents not to buy their children toy guns or toy weapons of any kind this Christmas.

'I would urge parents to look carefully at what young people are asking for and refuse to let them have potentially anti-social and dangerous presents this Christmas,' said Chief Constable Todd. Apparently hundreds of police hours are wasted each year when officers are called out to deal with potential gun crime, as toys are now almost undistinguishable from the real thing.

David Hawtin, director-general of the British Toy and Hobby Association, poured scorn on the Chief Constable's words. 'The police are introducing unnecessary panic about traditional toy guns,' he told reporters. 'They are perfectly harmless.'

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