The poison scare sent the toy industry into a temporary meltdown sending shares of its distributor, Character Group, down by 8pc in the UK.  Still, the £10 toys are well on their way to be being the largest Christmas toy this season with an estimated figure of 600,000 expected to be sold by Christmas in the UK alone.

Good Guide, the US consumer group that raised the alarm, may be in hot water however, as the US producers Cepia are considering filing a damages lawsuit against the company for their misleading public statements.

Character Group released a press statement that said Mr. Squiggles the hamster in question is perfectly safe and passed all of the toy industry tests with remarkable colours.

Executive chairman of the group Richard King stated that the company was rocked by the claims due to their disruptive nature and the timing of the claims but that it is all part of the market game.

Good Guide stated last weekend that they had found the chemical anomaly in the toy only to then recant their statement, saying there was some confusion over the figures and that their testing techniques were different.

After the claims were made public Character Group sent the toy through a series of tests that affirmed the toy is safe.

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