CAN he fix it? Yes he can. It seems there is no end to the talents of Bob the Builder. He may be small, he may be plastic, he may be a children's television character, but Robert T Builder is a force to be reckoned with.

Digging tunnels, removing storm damaged trees and rescuing his cat Pilchard from a variety of predicaments are bread and butter to Bob.

But in the real world, he is expected to reach number one in the pop chart this weekend, he is a popular chant on the terraces of football grounds around the country, and he is single-handedly resolving the labour shortage in the construction industry.

When he is not on set he may be inanimate, but there's no doubting he is one of the greatest movers and shakers of the era.

From humble beginnings, he has become an icon, a cult figure, not simply among children, but adults as well. The brainchild of an ordinary man called Keith Chapman from Basildon, the idea was submitted to HIT Entertainment, which now produces the show.

TV company boss Kate Fawkes admits: "I was kicking myself because I'd had two young children of my own who'd loved using diggers and dump trucks. I kept asking myself why I hadn't thought of it first?"

HIT spokesman Liz Morris adds: "There's also a cult thing going on, which is weird and we don't know why he has become so successful and caught the public imagination."

BBC1 bosses gave Bob a job after seeing an introductory film from HIT Entertainment. Books, videos and a magazine from BBC Worldwide are in production and a range of toys hit the shops before a single sight of Bob's hard hat on TV. As the new king of merchandise, his face also adorns everything from pillow cases to thermos flasks. A second TV series is already agreed.

Bob uses the same kind of stop-frame animation as Postman Pat and Fireman Sam, and is better animated than Thomas the Tank Engine.

Bob the Builder, construction company assistant Wendy, Pilchard the amusing cat, Scoop the digger, Muck the bulldozer, Dizzy the cement mixer, Lofty the crane, Roley the steamroller and Spud the mischievous scarecrow now captivate a generation every Monday at 3.45pm.

Bob first premiered on Children's BBC in April 1999. Today, 50 per cent of the country's four to six-year-olds tune in to the show.

But he is much more than that, he's worth a bob or two - £60m a year to be precise. HIT Entertainment has sold 1.1 million videos in the UK in just 18 months. This has all helped the company profits rise by 59 per cent for the year to July 31, 2000 - up from £3.2m to £5m.

And that's before Bob the Record hits number one in the charts.

The rap version of his slogan "Can we fix it? Yes we can" is expected to top the charts this weekend and could stay in the top spot over the Christmas period.

Men Behaving Badly actor Neil Morrissey provides the vocals. "It's going to be the Christmas number one," he says. "The success of Bob the Builder has taken us all by surprise. We always felt it was going to be successful but it's just gone through the roof.

"The song came about after we had recorded the first programme. Can We Fix It? is the show's theme song just jazzed up. It was good fun going into the recording studio to see what we could do. I think all mothers are going to be sick of hearing Bob the Builder by the end of Christmas. In the video we've got Bob as Liam Gallagher dressed up in a parka and holding his microphone up there. It's very funny."

It will certainly be bought by countless football fans who have embraced the words into a terrace chant, wherever their team has a famous Bob in the line-up. Newcastle United fans started the trend when Bobby Robson was called in to right the team's considerable wrongs. "Can Bobby fix it? Yes he can," echoes from St James's Park.

But while Bob is the man of the moment in the mass media, his influence on the construction industry could be far more reaching.

The building trade has been in crisis since the slump of the 1980s. With the majority of skilled builders now in their fifties and a dearth of youngsters taking up apprenticeships, the situation is expected to get worse - which is where Bob comes to the rescue again.

The affable handyman is making the industry attractive to a budding workforce. Children are wanting to become builders in their droves, with Bob acting as a powerful role model.

He has already been adopted by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) as a mascot and even turns up in full regalia at its annual meeting.

"There is a skills shortage," says North-East regional director of the Federation of Master Builders, Barry Oliver. "All the good lads are 50-plus and in a few years time there will be a glut of them retiring. Who will take their place? Anything which enhances the building industry has to be a good thing and I would encourage Bob to keep attracting good young lads into the industry."

The CITB is trying to attract 12 and 13-year-old boys into the industry when they are older. But the TV programme is proving as popular with girls as it is with boys. Northumbria University has just put out an appeal for Betty the Builders, seeking to attract women into top jobs in the construction industry.

"It's a male-dominated industry and even Bob the Builder is carrying on that stereotype," says property management lecturer Cheryl Williamson. "But women can succeed here, not just as Betty the Builder, but as Sarah the Surveyor, Sue the Civil Engineer, or Polly the Project Manager."

Mr Oliver adds: "A lot of girls are coming into it on the craft side and this has to be encouraged. Many are better timekeepers and are more sensible than the boys.

"If Bob is bringing new people into the industry, that is great - we need all the ones we can get in the next ten years."