Mel Harrison, 43, has been collecting Aardman memorabilia since she was a child and is pleased with how the franchise has found new fans.

A Wallace and Gromit superfan who has more than 1,000 items of memorabilia has said she is “really pleased” the “amazing” franchise has enjoyed success through Baftas and a Feathers McGraw tattoo trend.

Mel Harrison, 43, said she has been “absolutely blown away” by all things Aardman since she was a child, with her first memory of the animation studio’s creation Wallace and Gromit being the short film A Grand Day Out.

The first memorabilia item she purchased was a Wallace and Gromit pen when she was about 14 using money from doing the paper round and she has since gone on to collect more than 1,000 items, admitting she has lost track of how much she has spent on them.

“I have lots of ornaments, I’ve probably got about 50 different mugs, there’s kids’ playsets, bubble baths…” Ms Harrison, who lives in Wormegay, Norfolk, told the PA news agency.

“I’ve collected a few of the Gromit Unleashed figures,........

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