Anti-gun campaigners have hit out at Playmobil over its Bank and Safe pack, which comes with all the pieces needed to stage a violent heist, including a safe that opens to reveal a haul of valuables and armed bank robber figurines.  

The German manufacturer claims the toy encourages children to "imagine, invent, create".  

But Danny Bryan of Communities Against Gun and Knife Crime, which works to help youngsters avoid lives  of violence, said: ‘We don’t want to be encouraging young people to look at these sorts of things.

Aimed at children aged 4 to 10, the set includes gold bars, cash, a big bag to put the loot in, a pistol and a screwdriver to wrench open the cash point machine.

A description of the set on The Early Learning Centre website read: ‘Watch out. The bank robber is after all the money in the bank and is demanding the key to the safe - what will the bank manager do?’

The centre writes that the set is not suitable for children under four-years-old - due to small parts, never mind the re-acting of a violent crime...