LIVERPOOL had the Beatles to help the city's name become known throughout the world, London its red buses and Newcastle its brown ale.

Now Accrington has joined the global marketing arena hoping to push the name around the world - with the aid of a bunch of teddy bears.

The town is already famous for its football team but although it is known country-wide tourism bosses don't think the lure of Accrington Stanley travels abroad. And so they have roped in a family of teddies instead to spread the word of what Accrington has to offer.

Borrowing the name from the football team Stan the Ted and his pals Accy Bear (short for Accrington), Nutty Bear (after the town's Acorn Trail), Ossy bear (Oswaldtwistle) and the cheeky Bear-Be-Hynd (after Hyndburn) will be shipped off to far off places dressed in a jumper which boasts "Nuts About Accrington" and equipped with a postcard from the town.

Hyndburn tourism officer Cathy Tattersall said they would put Accrington on the map. She said: "Lots of people in East Lancashire have family or friends living abroad and they could buy a teddy and take him over when they visit or just post him. "They all come with a postcard and we ask that they are filled in at the other end and we can build up a record of whereabouts in the world they are."

Cathy got the idea from when she was the tourism manager at nearby Preston where she said the bears went down a storm.

She added: "The bears sold extremely well in Preston and were sent off to America, Australia, everywhere.

"They become a talking point in their new country and people get to know about Accrington. This is about putting the town and indeed the whole of Hyndburn on the map and letting people know about all the wonderful attractions like Oswaldtwistle Mills. We want to raise the profile."

The £8 bears have already proved to be a talking point in the town when they arrived at Information Centre this week and Cathy is hoping the first ones are shipped off soon.

Cathy said: "Everybody loves teddy bears and we think these will travel very well. Just look at Paddington."