POLICE officers have seized two golly dolls from a Greater Manchester shop following a complaint that they were offensive.



The toys were photographed and taken away as evidence from the furniture and gift shop in Wrightington, near Wigan.



Owner Gavin Alexander said a woman came into the shop and asked that the dolls be removed because her black boyfriend was offended.



He refused and less than a day later Lancashire Police arrived at the In Touch shop to take a statement from him and confiscate the dolls.



Mr Alexander said: "Our shop adjoins a post office and we have had two armed robberies and an attempted robbery recently, so I thought they were here to investigate those matters.



"We are a multi-cultured shop which sells items from all around the world.



"The golly dolls are very popular collectors' items and we have sold them for about three years. This was a complete waste of police time."



Lancashire Police confirmed a member of the public had made a complaint but no action would be taken.



The dolls were taken under the Public Order Act, which makes it an offence to display material which could be deemed threatening, abusive or insulting.



The golly was a children's literary character created by Florence Kate Upton and her mother, Bertha Upton, in the late 19th century, and was inspired by a minstrel doll.

The doll was adopted as a mascot, called Golly, by jam manufacturer Robertson's in 1910, but was dropped in 2001 following accusations of racism.