YOUNG and old alike took their teddy bears along to a register office on Saturday morning for an official seal of approval.

Mini birth certificates were presented to the owners of teddies and other toys, in exchange for a small donation to the Mayor of Hartlepool's charity fund.

The fun event was organised to help youngsters learn more about the work of the register office, and the certificates they were presented with included information about the toys and their "birth date".

Superintendent Registrar Peter Spires said registrars had enjoyed dealing with a rather younger clientele than usual.

"It was good fun -- a remarkable day. It was lovely meeting the children as we normally meet only the adults."

But he said that not all visitors were youngsters.

"We had a few adults bringing bears too, which was quite a surprise.

"We thought about providing a rear door for them to leave by, but they didn't seem to mind going out of the front.

"The youngest bear to be issued with a certificate was just a day old, while the eldest was 58."