A CAMPAIGN to save Enid Blyton's Famous Five books has been launched in the Isle of Purbeck - known as Enid Blyton country because of the many local landmarks featured in her stories.

Vivienne Endecott, who runs the Ginger Pop shop at Corfe Castle - or Kirrin Castle to Blyton fans - fears a cartoon version of the Famous Five could lead to the books no longer being published in their original form.

Chorion plc owns the intellectual property rights to most of Enid Blyton's work and once Noddy was re-written for TV as 'Make Way for Noddy', Enid Blyton's own Noddy books were no longer printed.

Chorion plc has commissioned a French animation company to make 26 episodes about the Famous Five to be shown all over the world, possibly updating the stories to the 21st century.

Vivienne said: "Will Aunt Fanny swap her pony and trap for a 4x4? Will each episode include a scenario to explain the loss of a mobile phone?

"Whatever happens about the TV series, Ginger Pop would like assurance that the original text novels will still be widely available worldwide.

"Intelligent children understand the concept of history, and can appreciate the Famous Five stories are of a place and time. The time is the middle of the last century and the place is rural England.

"The adventures that the Five had were from the era before TV, when children had the freedom to roam, and Groan-Ups knew their place."

Details of how to get involved in her letter writing campaign can be seen on the Ginger Pop website by clicking here

Vivienne said: "It was the letters of thousands of children that persuaded Enid Blyton to expand her series of six Famous Five books into the set of 21 adventure stories that we know today.

"Famous Five fans of all ages are now urged to put old fashioned pen to paper once again to ensure that this much loved series will continue to be published in its original format."

First published: September 2, 2005