The new range, suitable for children aged six months upwards, is to feature characters from the Ragdoll produced series and will be available in Autumn/Winter 2009.

The range will include four In the Night Garden licensed hard line products as well as software for the V.Smile Baby Infant Development System.

Other hard line products included in the deal include: Spin and Learn Gazebo spinning top with three moulded character buttons in the shape of Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka and Igglepiggle; Nursery Book with four double sided pages, four sliding character buttons and songs from the programme; the Play Table has a 3D interactive Igglepiggle and Upsy Daisy and the Shape Sorter Pinky Ponk will give kids hours of fun.

The In the Night Garden development programme for the best-selling V.Smile Baby Infant Development System will be suitable for babies from 18 to 36 months old.

BBC Worldwide senior accounts manager Julie Kekwick said, "This new partnership with VTech symbolises a significant extension of our licensing programme for In the Night Garden. We‘re able to offer pre-schoolers an opportunity to learn through play and interaction with their favourite characters with these new products in a way that we‘ve not done before.

"VTech have a fantastic track record in combining educational elements with real play value - we worked to great success with them on Teletubbies."

VTech’s European product development director Andrew Barrett said, "We are delighted to be joining forces with BBC Worldwide and such a popular and established license. VTech already offers a strong range of toys for infants and children which will be strengthened by this new partnership.

"The new range will offer retailers something unique combining the popularity of the television show with high quality VTech toys."