TEDDY SWEAR; Toy called me a p****, says dad.

Byline: By Mark McGivern

A SHOCKED dad claims he was sworn at in a supermarket - by a teddy bear.

Roy Edensor, 34, wanted to buy a talking Nev The Bear toy for his four-year-old son Sebastian.

Nev is the puppet host of children's BBC show Smile and has a number of cute catchphrases.

But Roy says that when he pressed the bear's paw, he was stunned to hear it shout: "P****."

And he claims when he tested the other Nevs on the shelf, they all lived up to the name of the character's spin-off show, Bear Behaving Badly.

Electrician Roy reported the problem to the manager of Tesco, who immediately had the bears removed from the shelves.

Dad-of-three Roy, from Stafford, said: "Sebastian just loves talking teddy bears. When I saw Nev, I just had to buy it. He is so cute it's unbelievable.

"It shouts out 10 phrases when you squeeze its paw and I started going through the cycle. The bear said things like, 'I love you' and 'Excuse me' then it said, 'P****'."

Roy, whose other kids are Tabitha, eight, and Megan, 10, added: "I went and told the manager that he was selling swearing teddy bears and he was nearly as shocked as I was.

"I had to say something about it as parents may have already bought a swearing Nev and wrapped it up ready for Christmas."

However, Tesco and the makers of Nev, Golden Bear, say Roy's worries are unfounded. Tesco said: "We have concluded the toy says, 'Quick'."

Golden Bear boss Clive Jones said: "The tape used in the Talking Nev Soft Toy is from the CBBC programme and is the actual person who voices the character. He does not, at any point, swear."

CAPTION(S):

BEAR-FACED CHEEK: Nev from CBBC