Garden gnome-manufacturers in Germany are under threat from the eastwards expansion of the European Union - their industry is being overrun by an invasion of eastern European gnomes.

Caroline Wyatt reports from the eastern German border

Until recently, cheap imitation gnomes from Poland and the Czech republic were prevented from entering Germany by a law which allowed customs to confiscate those gnomes infringing companies' copyright. However, now it is a free for all on the German border.

Reinhard Griebel's great grandfather helped invent the garden gnome in the 1870's and founded the family gnome-making business in Graefenroda in eastern Germany.

Customs officers can no longer confiscate fake imports

There were 16 gnome firms in the town alone after Mr Griebel's great-grandfather invented the modern gnome in his distinctive red cap. Now there is only one workshop left. There is little Mr Griebel can do:

"This market is easy to flood with cheap imports of the foreign made gnomes cost a lot less and we are having to fight hard against that. We have to make sure we have a better range of products, but if people just want to look at the price and not the quality, that's a big problem for us."

The reason is that labour in Germany is far more expensive then Poland and so German gnomes cost twice as much. Every gnome sold at the Griebel workshop is lovingly wrapped with a certificate of authenticity, but even though customers are enthusiastically buying these hand crafted ceramic gnomes as special Christmas treats, Mr Griebel is losing business.

Hand-painted gnomes are high quality and high cost

Mr Griebel's gnome museum helps keep the business alive. In this country of gnome-lovers, it is believed at least four million gnomes reside in suburban gardens. Yet in difficult economic times, many people are reaching for cheaper foreign alternatives.

Just across the border in Poland and the Czech Republic, most streetside kiosks offer gnomes for sale to bargain-hungry Germans. They're not tasteful but they are cheap.

Until recently on the German border customs officers were allowed to search all lorries coming in from eastern Europe for contraband gnomes. Any that infringed German copyright were confiscated and destroyed.

Now that law has been lifted - meaning foreign gnomes can travel freely across Germany's borders.