Mattel announced today that it completed the acquisition of HIT Entertainment for $680m (€520.75m) in cash.

Thomas the Tank Engine has moved in with Barbie, Fisher-Price and American Girl after Mattel agreed to buy HIT Entertainment, the firm that owns the iconic British brand, for US$680m (€490.6m).

AFTER 14 years and 26 top-10 hits, Westlife are to bow out following a farewell tour next year.

The world's largest toy company Mattel is reportedly in advanced talks to buy the owners of Bob The Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Simon Cowell claims to have saved the Christmas charts.

IT is ironic that builders now have to join the ranks of those seeking social housing when it was they who forced many on to housing lists because of high rents and mortgages in the first place.

I REMEMBER reading an interview with actor Neil Morrissey (aka Bob the Builder) some years back where he spoke of his childhood as the son of Irish immigrants in Britain in the 1970s.

THE little boy who died after being crushed by a lorry, just days before he was due to start primary school, was buried in his new uniform yesterday.

THANKS to a Bob the Builder sock, police in the Dutch town of ’t Zandt have arrested a suspect for a string of arson attacks.

ERIC BLACK has thrown his weight behind Alex McLeish’s bid to become the new manager of Birmingham City.

A daring theft of National Wax Museum figures will not stop next month’s re-opening of the tourist attraction, it emerged today.

The Irish animation company behind the Picme and Twisted Tales cartoon series has landed two major new international deals.

THE Irish animation sector has exploded over the past decade with hundreds of people employed in the multi-million euro industry.

The company behind Bob the Builder has pulled out of making a takeover offer for children’s UK entertainment group Chorion.

SIR Michael Stoute can register a second consecutive William Hill Lincoln with King’s Majesty at Redcar today.

Ruby Walsh completed a 55-1 double on Dun Doire to lift the William Hill Trophy Handicap Chase

Nicky Henderson has used the cantorspreadfair.com Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle to great effect in recent years and he stuck again when Restless D’Artaix gained a comfortable eight-length victory.

The battle for control of Bob the Builder group Hit Entertainment became a one-horse race today when another potential suitor walked away from takeover talks.

The top flight finished today comfortably in the black, but failed to make up much of the week’s losses.

A bidding war for Bob the Builder was brewing today after his owner confirmed two further approaches aimed at scuppering a planned £489m (€711m) takeover.

LIONS Gate Entertainment, whose films include Fahrenheit 9/11 and Monster’s Ball, is on course to swoop for Hit Entertainment, a British children’s television company that last month agreed to a $921 million (€703 million) takeover by venture capital firm Apax Partners.

The London market overcame jitters in the retail sector and downbeat trading on Wall Street to make a positive start to the week today.

Children’s programme licensing group Hit Entertainment today said it had received a takeover approach.

Bob the Builder group Hit Entertainment today moved to quash speculation it had received a takeover approach from a Swiss investment firm.

Hit Entertainment parted company with its chief executive today after sealing a “transforming deal” giving greater US television coverage to Bob the Builder.

Loveable DIY hero Bob the Builder is to become the new face of British holiday company Butlins, it was announced today.

Cliff Richard’s hit Millennium Prayer has been voted the worst number one of all time.

With his blue hat and spotty scarf, he may not exactly encapsulate the French sense of style.

Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey was held by US customs officials for being “rude and drunk” at Los Angeles airport.

The Darkness and the Pop Idol 12 were battling it out today as the race for the UK Christmas number one hots up.

Bob The Builder is to take on his biggest project to date – by building an entire town from scratch, it was announced today.

Hit Entertainment, the company behind children’s TV favourite Bob the Builder, today unveiled a major relaunch designed to revive the character’s popularity.

Children’s favourite Pingu is waddling back to TV – but could leave fans in a flap with his new voice.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 Index failed to cement earlier gains today as top flight shares limped across the finishing line at close of trading.

UK bakery group Inter Link Foods is poised to reveal it has cooked up another year of rapid growth when it reports full-year results on Tuesday.

Signs that uncertainty over the situation in the Middle East was coming to an end sent shares in London surging into positive territory today.

Cold Feet star James Nesbitt is set to take on Bob The Builder and plough his way into children’s hearts with a new pre-school show Tractor Tom.

Music stars such as Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, David Essex and voice of Bob The Builder, Neil Morrissey, are in line for a cash bonanza for unclaimed record royalties.

ALL-GIRL band Girls Aloud have topped the Christmas charts in Britain, giving pop promoter Louis Walsh his 22nd British number one.

ROY KEANE could find himself out in the cold until November as the critics line up to condemn him after his weekend red card shame at Sunderland.

Manchester United legend Lou Macari branded disgraced skipper Roy Keane “foolish” for getting involved in the fracas which led to his latest red card shame.

Republic of Ireland midfielder Jason McAteer is unimpressed by the revelations in Roy Keane’s soon-to-be-released autobiography.

TV favourite Bob the Builder is joining forces with pop superstar Robbie Williams to raise funds for sick children.

CARTOONS like Bob The Builder don't just help keep kids quiet, they improve their imaginations and social skills, a new study has found.