No, he can't. Bob the Builder will axe 60 jobs after moving in on Thomas the Tank Engine...

In the cold, hard world of children's cartoons, 60 people are to lose their jobs just before Christmas from the home of Thomas the Tank Engine.

The entertainment empire HIT, the company which owns the popular children's cartoon character, dropped a bombshell today by announcing its Hampshire-based office is to close.

The surprise move comes just months after a high- profile business takeover which set up one of the world's leading independent children's studios with powerful television and merchandising rights.

Gullane Entertainment, which owned the rights to Thomas the Tank Engine, Fireman Sam and Sooty, accepted an offer of around 500p a share from rival Hit Entertainment, which owns Bob the Builder and Barney the Dinosaur, in July this year.

The bid valued Gullane, which was formerly known as Britt Allcroft, and is based in Stoneham Lane, Eastleigh, at around £139m.

The company was started by the former producer for Meridian TV's forerunner Southern TV, Britt Allcroft, but was renamed Gullane about two years ago.

Gullane had been an international success story. At the time of the takeover, business in the US was booming and elsewhere in the world, the feature film Thomas the Tank Engine and the Magic Railroad was screened in Japan and Germany.

Video launches of the film in Britain saw it enter the sales chart at number three.

Chairman Roger Llewellyn said at the time of the takeover: "Overall we have made excellent progress towards our financial target for the year and we are firmly focused on growth, both organically and through acquisitions.''

The company later bought the rights to the Guinness Book of Records, which included the British Book of Hit Singles, from drinks group Diageo for £45.5m. The capture was regarded as a major coup for Gullane. Executives regarded the deal as enhancing Gullane's position as a family entertainment studio.

Gullane made no secret of its ambition to expand the business at a much faster rate than Diageo which, it believed, had not been fully exploited.