A LITTLE boy is appealing for help from Lyme Regis residents after his fluffy friend went missing.

Izzy Townley, 7, lost his best friend and favourite toy Deedee the lion whilst on holiday in Ozone Terrace in Lyme Regis.

His mum Kelley Townley, from Bath, explained: "We were packing up the car and our two children were playing in the front garden.

"We then went to the beach and when we got back and were just leaving in the car I noticed Deedee wasn't there and I said 'where's Deedee?'

"My son Izzy said 'I was playing hide and seek with him' and he said he'd hidden him in a bush in the garden of the holiday cottage for his sister Tabitha, 6, to find."

"We thought it would be okay because it's a private garden and it was hidden in a bush, so it was bound to be there, but we spent ages searching and couldn't find him."

Mrs Townley added Izzy hasn't known what to do with himself since he lost Deedee and although the owners of the property, Lyme Bay Cottages, helped spread the word, the stuffed lion toy still hasn't turned up.

"Izzy has been really distressed - my daughter has hundreds of teddies and can swap them around with no problem, but Izzy and Deedee are inseparable.

"Everything is now related to Deedee for Izzy, and he thinks he is to blame. He knows Deedee isn't here, but he cant grasp the fact that he might be gone forever," she said.

"We hope one of the holiday makers or neighbours will see him and hand him in - Deedee obviously doesn't mean anything to someone else but he means so much to us."

Rikey Austin, who owns Alice's Teddy Bear Shop in Lyme Regis, offered to keep Deedee safe if a member of the public finds him and hands him in at the shop.

She said: "We think losing a teddy is a much bugger issue than just losing a toy. Teddies are something children learn to care for even before they have a pet - it's the first thing they are responsible for, so losing it can stay with them their whole life."

She said the shop runs its own nationwide 'Teddy Tags' service to help reunite lost teddies with their owners, and they also offer a foster family scheme where lost teddies who have not been claimed can be looked after for however long it takes until they are reunited with their rightful owners.

Anyone who finds Deedee is asked to hand him in at Alice's Teddy Bear Shop in Broad Street, or email Mrs Townley at mail@kelleytownley.com.