Cartoon greats such as Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo and Bugs Bunny could soon be joined by Ben and Sarah - a pair of loveable bean-filled alien bears named after a Burley-in-Wharfedale couple.

A top magazine already features a cartoon telling the story of the Snugs, children from the dying planet of Snog sent to earth in padded space pods to ensure the survival of their race.

And toys based on the characters, which former Guiseley School students Ben Barker and Sarah Pawlowski helped dream up, are selling like hot cakes.

The idea for the girl and boy cuddly aliens evolved at a meeting between Ben, 27, and Sarah, 23, who run the Beaniequest UK shop and mail order company in Leeds Road, Windhill, Shipley, and bosses from London-based SiTrade, a bean-filled toy retailer and manufacturer.

Thousands of the pocket-sized Snugs - which collectors have to 'adopt' and give an earth name - have already been sold in Britain, America and Japan .

A cartoon strip - The Adventures of Snug - is used to advertise the limited edition cuddly toys in the monthly UK edition of Mary Beth's Bean Bag World Magazine, a bible for collectors of Beanie Babies and other bean-filled toys. And the story of Ben and Sarah's adventures on earth could eventually end up on television.

Ben, who is due to marry Sarah in September, said: "SiTrade have been in discussions with a company about the possibility of making a cartoon series of the story.

"They're very loveable creatures, there's a good story behind them and it would make a fantastic animated story on TV.

"If that did happen, the 10,000 first-edition Snugs of each sex which are being made would immediately become extremely collectable.''

Sarah said: "When we first heard about the names for the cartoon we just thought it was so funny but it's really exciting to be involved in something like this and at one show we went to I even got asked to sign a little girl's Snug Passport.

"Everyone in the trade knows they're named after us and if they have the same names in a TV cartoon that would certainly be a talking point at dinner.''

Claire Preston, office manager for SiTrade, said around 5,000 of the £6.99 Snugs had been sold so far. She said: "They've been selling really well - we've even sold a few in Japan and have launched in America.

"We called the Snugs Ben and Sarah in the cartoon because we really like them and they helped us with the idea so we thought it would be a nice compliment to them.

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