HUNDREDS of toy collectors from across the world descended on Witney at the weekend to celebrate the 100th birthday of Russian teddy bear Alfonzo.

Witney businessman Ian Pout, who bought the first red Russian teddy bear at auction in 1989 at Christies for £12,100, keeps it at Teddy Bears of Witney.

And on Saturday, a centenary party was held at Langdale Hall, attracting 600 teddy bear lovers.

Some had made the trip from America, Australia, Switzerland and Germany, as well as all over the UK, to enjoy the celebration of the cuddly toys.

Mr Pout was joined by marketing manager Ian Munro, from toy firm Steiff, which made the iconic bear.

Both gave presentations about the bear's history at the hall in Witney's Market Square during the special day.

Mr Pout, 62, said: "Visitors gave an ecstatic reaction. People were in tears hearing the story of Alfonzo. The silence of that amount of people was amazing. They were so rapt by the presentation."

The bear, which was given to Russian Princess Xenia as a Christmas present by her father, the Grand Duke George Michailovitch, of Russia, in 1908, is kept in the shop's museum.

The event attracted both children and adults, ranging in ages from six to 85.

As part of the weekend's celebrations, Mr Pout sold about 150 Centenary Alfonzo replica bears, costing £295 each.

The bears were sold with limited edition books telling the history of the bear - all written and signed by Mr Pout.

A raffle raised £1,303 for SeeSaw - a charity which provides support for children, who may have a parent or sibling who has died or is dying.

Money was also donated to Against Breast Cancer, which funds a research programme into new treatment and prevention of the disease.

Mr Pout said: "Steiff wanted to create the ultimate replica bear and never before have they created one that looks so old.

"Alfonzo is such an iconic bear in the teddy bear world - probably the most famous - and Steiff spent more time on this bear than any other production bear, because they wanted to get it right."

As well as Alfonzo, the shop's museum has about 1,000 limited edition bears including Aloysius, who is to star in a new £10m adaptation of Brideshead Revisted, partly shot in Oxford.

Aloysius, the teddy bear made famous by his appearance in the 1981 series of the Evelyn Waugh novel, was going to be written out of the script.

But the film's producer Ken Loader said at the weekend that Aloysius would make an appearance.

The 25in bear, who is 101, is one of the star exhibits at the Teddy Bears of Witney shop and museum in High Street, and a replica will take his place in the new film, starring Ben Whishaw