An Ottery woman is appealing for help as she aims for a quirky world record title.

Angela Phillips, 25, wants to be the ‘woman who owns the most frog toys’.

She has made an official application to Guinness World of Records and is now asking anyone who has unwanted toy frogs to pass them on to her.

Angela explained that she, and her 21-month-old daughter Willow both love frogs.

She said: “I’m autistic and autistic people have special interests – it could be anything, the commonest are maths or trains or something, and for me it happened to be frogs. They are my super special interest, so this is such a thrilling opportunity for me.”

Her frog collection started shortly after she gave birth to Willow.

“I was suffering really severe post-natal depression for about seven months, and in the first few weeks I bought this little toy bean-bag frog and it brought me such joy, it was a real comfort to me in such a difficult time of my life.

“It’s finding the small things that bring you joy, the one positive thing in your day, and it was that one little frog, and every time I had a bad moment I would carry it around with me.

“I got another one gifted to me by a friend and then I got given frog things for birthdays or picked them up myself.”

Angela currently has 75 toy frogs as well as a pet Asian bullfrog called Puddles, who lives in a vivarium in her bedroom, ‘but I can’t count him in the record because he’s a live animal’.

She said the world record attempt started as ‘a bit of a joke’, but this week she made an official application to Guinness World of Records, which costs £6.

The current world record for the largest number of frog items is held by Sheila Crown of Marlborough, Wiltshire, who has a collection of 10,502, but Angela’s attempt will be strictly toys only – not ornaments or frog-themed household objects.

She will find out in 12 weeks whether her record attempt has been accepted, and in the meantime she is working to build up her collection.