Crazy Frog Ringtones Expensive

Via ICNewcastle

Lauren Dimmick tore open the presents on her ninth birthday, but only one stood out. Sitting in front of her was a spanking-new mobile phone.

"I'd wanted one for ages," says Lauren, now 10. "All my friends had one. My mum and dad take it in turns to buy my top-up cards so I'm not allowed to phone or text my friends very often."

The UK's first mobile specially designed for children was withdrawn from sale by distributor Communic8 earlier this year after a Government report raised health concerns. The MyMo phone was aimed at four- to eight-year-olds to use in an emergency.

But busy mother Lorraine Jackson (pictured below) thinks her children's safety is the priority. She gave both her daughters their first mobiles six months ago and now Lorraine, 43, has total peace of mind, able to contact 10-year-old Emily and Holly, seven, wherever they are.

"It's made me feel a lot more secure, knowing I can check they're OK," says Lorraine, from Red House Farm, Sunderland.

Lorraine, who works at the Gosforth Marriott, gets irritated by marketing ploys on TV encouraging children to download expensive ringtones. The Crazy Frog obsession recently swept the nation and is about to made into a hit record. An equally irksome character, Chick Sweety, plans to take over where the mad amphibian leaves off.

Not many children bother to read the small print at the bottom of the screen; all they have to do is dial a number and - voila! - Ringtone on the phone...and three more pounds of some child's phone credit drops into the Crazy Frog bigwigs' already bulging wallets.