THE millionaire owner of a North-East football club was in an animated mood after sealing a deal to buy the rights to a children’s cartoon series.

George Houghton, chairman of Darlington Football Club, secured The Lampies for an undisclosed sum.

The series was based on fictional engineers led by Brightlight – who had to keep the world illuminated by defending lampposts against the evil Roons, who wanted to plunge it into darkness.

The series, featuring 2D and 3D animation, ran on Children’s BBC from 2000 until 2003, had an award-winning theme tune and was sold to 17 countries.

Mr Houghton has bought the rights to the programme and has put six episodes on a DVD, called Switch on to the Lampies, with more to follow.

For every DVD sold, a contribution will go towards Save the Children’s protection work with vulnerable children in Mongolia.

On Saturday, one of the cartoon’s characters, Charge, paraded around the pitch with Mr Houghton before Darlington kicked off against Hereford.

However, it did not act as a lucky mascot as his Coca-Cola League Two side lost 1-0.

The Lampies was created by policeman Dave Bonner, from Newcastle. He came up with the idea while recovering from an injury suffered on duty.

Mr Houghton said: “The Lampies is a fantastic children’s programme.

“If my grandchildren are anything to go by, I am sure that it will capture a new generation of young fans.”

He said that he was determined to bring the Lampies back into the public eye, but was also keen to raise money for charity.

He added: “I hope the Lampies can spotlight the work of the charity in areas such as healthcare, food, education and protection.

“For every launch DVD, we sell a proportion of the cost will go towards Save the Children’s protection work with very vulnerable children in Mongolia.

“This is a significant commitment and we hope that parents will join us in supporting these children who have none of the protection that shields our children in the UK.”