Even in the age of PlayStations, teddy bears are still the perfect present, according to one fan.

Sue Pearson, owner of Sue Pearson Dolls and Teddy Bears in Brighton, went Christmas shopping at a Christie's auction of the furry friends.

Her prize buy was a rare turquoise English Farnell bear from the Twenties when vibrant colours were fashionable.

However, the bear was not for Sue to keep as she had bought it on commission for a customer, but she did make some other purchases, which will go on sale in her shop.

She bought a rare muzzled bear made by German toymaker Steiff, a Twenties bear that moves and growls when it is wound up, a Thirties Merry Thought English bear and a teddy bear purse from 1910, which would have belonged to a child.

At a Christie's auction last year, Sue made an extra special purchase of two Steiff bears named Pat and Nora, which cost her £24,000.

Pat is a rare, black Titanic, which was produced to commemorate the loss of the ship, while Nora is a fully-dressed, white mohair Steiff.

The pair originally belonged to Kathleen Phillips who in the summer of 1914 kept a diary with photographs of the adventures she shared with her bears while on holiday.

Sue kept the bears and documents and in a rare move, Steiff made 1,500 replicas of Pat and Nora, which Sue sells in her shop in Brighton Square.

Sue, who is the author of Millers Collectors Guide to Teddy Bears, said bears are ideal presents for all occasions.

She said: "A bear is a great token of affection. Long after other things have gone people still keep their bears."

Sue began collecting bears as a child and opened her first shop more than 20 years ago. She goes all over the world shopping for her bears.

Sue said: "I try to buy what I like because to me, bears are a passion as well as a business. Even though I have been doing it for years now I still get excited."

Sue also repairs and restores teddy bears. Her team does everything from cleaning and putting in the right colour eyes to virtually re-making a bear.

She said: "Cleaning has to be done very carefully. You never immerse the teddy bears. They have to be surface-cleaned, which can be time consuming.

"If somebody brings in a child's bear we try to do the work as quickly as possible but normally it can take a few weeks as we are very busy.

"Sometimes the repair will cost more than a new bear would cost but many people feel it's worth it."