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Creator of 'Wombles' dies in Britain

ALDERNEY, England, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- Elisabeth Beresford, creator of "The Wombles," died Saturday at a hospital Alderney, in Britain's Channel Islands, her son said.

Beresford, 84, created the furry "Wombles" after making a trip to Wimbledon Commons with her daughter, the BBC reported.

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Beresford was born in 1926, and many of the characters in the stories she wrote stemmed from her family. She worked as a ghostwriter on BBC Radio's Woman's Hour and in her spare time wrote fiction, starting with romantic stories for women's magazines.

She created the Wombles following a comment made by her young daughter during a Boxing Day walk on Wimbledon Common. In an interview last month with BBC Guernsey, she described the event.

"Over Christmas I had to keep the children quiet as their grandparents were visiting, so on Boxing Day, after the grandparents left, we got in my car and went to Wimbledon Common.

"The three of us ran backwards and forwards screaming at the top of our voices and it was my daughter who said to me 'oh ma, isn't it great on Wombledon Common?' and I said 'That's where the Wombles live.'"

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The furry, long-nosed creatures do good for the Earth, recycling materials they uncover as they burrow into the ground. The Wombles went on to become toys, a television show and a series of books.

"The Queen's a mad Womble fan," Beresford said in 1998.

Her association with the BBC led to a producer suggesting she take her idea to television company FilmFair, which resulted in the Wombles becoming a success.

Beresford once described how she created some of the characters.

"Great Uncle Bulgaria was my father-in-law, Madame Cholet was from my daughter Kate … my brother had two children and John was a very clever boy who went to Wellington College, which is where Wellington came from ... and Orinoco I just picked off a map."

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