The Wombles get set for big screen debut

Eco-friendly Wimbledon dwellers The Wombles are set to star in their own feature film for the first time.

The movie is one of the projects being planned by musician Mike Batt - the man who put the lovable characters into the charts in the 1970s - after he took a controlling interest in the company that owns their rights.

He also aims to bring the stars from yesteryear back to TV in a lengthy series as he reboots The Wombles franchise.

Batt said in a message to fans that his firm now has the major shareholding in Wombles Copyright Holdings.

Although the musician said he could not go into great detail, he did say, "Suffice to say we have plans for two new 26-part TV series, a feature-length movie and an interactive online Wombles World experience".