'Bagpuss' bought in £400,000 deal

Bagpuss is in line for a return after rights to the children's TV character were sold in a £400,000 deal.

Coolabi plc announced it has bought Licensing By Design, a company which owned the licensing rights to the loveable cat and The Clangers.

The TV rights for both programmes are expected to be reviewed soon, with Coolabi stating that Bagpuss in particular has "significant potential" for development, reports The Guardian.

"Bagpuss is regularly voted the nation's favourite children's television character, despite only 13 episodes of the series ever being made and, as such, there is significant potential to build on the affection in which this classic brand is held," the firm said in a statement.

Bagpuss, which aired in 1974 on the BBC, was made by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate.

A survey of adults published in March this year saw Bagpuss voted the fourth best children's programme of all time.