Build a Bear Workshops were forced to close early today due to "unprecedented" demand for its Pay your Age day.

Both the stores in Thurrock and Basildon have closed, blaming health and safety.

A statement on the store in Thurrock reads: "The response to our pay you age day event at all of our UK locations has been overwhelming and unprecedented in our 21-year history.

"The crowds have greatly exceeded our expectations and, per local authorities, queues are at capacity and we cannot accept additional guests due to extreme crowds and safety concerns.

"We understand our guests are disappointed and we are working to address the situation.

"We will reach out directly to our valued guests as soon as possible."

In an official statement, a spokesman said: "Bulid-A-Bear Workshop’s Pay Your Age Day event generated an overwhelming response, resulting in long queues, extensive waits and disappointed Guests.

"We feel it is important to share that, based on the information available to us before the day began, we could not have predicted this reaction to our Pay Your Age Day event.

"We understand that many Guests were turned away as, due to safety concerns created by the crowds, authorities in certain locations closed Build-A-Bear stores and, in other locations, we were forced to limit the queue. Unfortunately, given these circumstances, we were unable to serve all of our Guests for the Pay Your Age Day event.

"In response, we distributed vouchers to Guests, who were present in queues, to be redeemed for a future purchase.

"We are now making vouchers available to our U.K. Build-A-Bear Bonus Club members, who log into their account by midnight on 18 July, 2018. Vouchers related to this event will be honoured through 31 August, 2018.

"It is our sincere desire for all of our Guests to enjoy the best Build-A-Bear experience possible.

"As such, our goal with the voucher extension is to enable us to better flow traffic to the stores over the next several weeks to avoid long queues and wait times as much as possible.

"Therefore, we strongly encourage Guests to consider delaying their trip to Build-A-Bear, and we appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience in this matter.

"Build-A-Bear Workshop takes seriously the privilege of providing our valued Guests with an opportunity to make a furry friend. It is with that spirit that we created our Pay Your Age Day event and the new, year-long Count Your Candles birthday program, where kids 14 and under can “pay their age” for our new Birthday Treat Bear during their birthday month.

"Thank you for your passion and continued support."