Humpty was part of the toy line up on the show

Humpty, who was in the line up of the BBC series Play School, has been discovered living in an office in Newport.

The green egg-shaped soft toy, was one of the resident toys on the show alongside Big Ted, Little Ted, Jemima and Hamble the doll.

But when the show was finally axed after 24 years, Humpty was allowed to retire.

And one of the presenters, Stuart Bradley, who worked on the show for around 10-years, was given the job of looking after Humpty.

"I worked very closely with a lady called Wendy Duggan, who had worked on the show from the very beginning," he said.

He became a proper toy in his retirement after years of working in the studio Stuart Bradley

"And when the show finally came to an end, she was given Humpty to look after. But Wendy knew that I had two small children who would love Humpty to play with and so she handed him over to me."

Mr Bradley, who has a home in Pontypool, brought Humpty to his house where he became a well-loved toy for his sons Tom and Joe.

"When took him in, I decided that I wanted him to become a real toy and not be stuck in some cupboard somewhere.

"And the boys loved him and he became a proper toy in his retirement after years of working in the studio.

"He has started to become a little frayed around the edges and has lost one of his buttons but he looks just the same.

"The boys are a bit too grown up to play with him now, Tom is 18 and Joe is 13, so I have brought him down to my office in Newport."

Double take

Stuart, who runs a corporate media company, Red 90, said that Humpty has become a real talking point.

"When people come in who are over the age of about 25, they do a double take when they see him. It's quite funny to see people's reactions sometimes.

"There were four Humpty's made, one for rehearsal, one for the show and two spares.

"I've got the one that was on the show, but there is another in the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford.

"I don't know where all of the other toys ended up, it would be nice to know. Maybe we could arrange a reunion with Big Ted and the others."