A WARRINGTON-based toy company hopes to distribute its gadgets across Europe after lots of interest at a famous German fair.

Thrilled Innovation First staff hope their Hexbug toys will be the number one stocking filler of the year following the Nuremberg Toy Fair.

UK managing director Ian Laugher said: “Nuremberg is the biggest of its kind in the world.

“It’s the place where retailers and big chains will decide what will be in their shops next Christmas.

“It opens for one day to wow the public too and we have had an overwhelming response.”

Hexbugs are five different robotic bugs, including a crab which hides in the dark, an ant described as having a mind of its own and a fully-controllable inchworm.

They react to their environment thanks to light and sound sensors.

Their popularity has seen sales of the American toy across Asia, the Middle East and Russia.

The Warrington branch of the firm is responsible for sales and distribution in Europe.

The gadgets are already popular in Germany, Holland, Spain and Italy.

Staff at the Hardwick Grange warehouse, Woolston, hope success at Nuremberg will lead to them hitting big high-street chains in Warrington soon.

Ian, who lives in Woolston, said: “The gadgets have really captured people’s imaginations because they are such unusual products.

“Kids love them and we think parents will buy them but we also suspect that it will be a popular ‘guy gadget’ and lots of dads will be keeping them for themselves!

“It’s something every bloke will want to have on his desk.”

l Visit hexbug.com for more information.