TWO thousand parents and children queued for up to five hours in a Southampton shopping centre to grab a bargain Build-A-Bear.

A line of families eager to get their hands on a cut price teddy stretched from the ground floor shop outside onto the upper walkway of Westquay’s new extension.

The day was a ‘pay your age’ promotion - but staff had no idea it would be as successful as it was.

But anyone arriving past 11.30 will have been disappointed - as staff were forced to put barriers up to stop any more bargain-hunters entering the store.

Charmain, Stan and Henry Pilgrim were some of the first through the doors having left the house at 7.30am.

Although walking away happy with their purchases they didn’t leave the store til midday Mum Charmain said: “I’ve wanted one for ages so I just thought let’s go down.”

Paige Lodwidge and Vicky Osborne arrived at 9am - but left three hours later with their bears. Paige, 31, from Upper Shirley said: “We would never buy one normally - it’s too expensive. You’ve got to take the opportunity while you can.”

Kirsty Etherington, 26, had come from Locks Heath with two year old Sofia and said: “I’m not sure we’ll last five hours but I’ve brought lunch.”

But Kaitlyn Woolnough and Tasha Jones had come down with toddler Arthur. Tasha said: “It could have ben much better managed. They could have had ready-stuffed bears as an option - but I’m sure they had their reasons for doing it like this.”

Chris Martin had travelled from Emsworth with sons Aston and Jenson for a chance to buy cuddly toys normally retailing at around £30 for the age of the toddlers - 4 and 2.

A member of staff from the Westquay branch estimated to have had 2000 shoppers through the door - and by 3pm was advising customers that once those already in the shop had left shutters would come down.

A sign at the end of the queue read “the pay your age queue is closed due to capacity.”

Vouchers were handed out to disappointed customers who were invited to return from until August 4 for £12 off any furry friend.

One member of staff said: “We knew it was going to be big but not this big.”

“We’ve still got plenty of stock but we can’t let any more people in due to health and safety. We definitely will not run out of bears.”

In a statement, Build-A-Bear said: “The response has been overwhelming and unprecedented in our 21-year history. We cannot accept additional guests due to extreme crowds and safety concerns.”