Christmas may be six months away, but that has not stopped Europe's toy manufacturers from showing off their latest innovations in London.

Attacknids, a kind of robotic spider designed by scientists, is one of the toys to have hit the shelves and has been eight years in the making.

The company's CEO explains how they work: "They shoot discs, darts, canon balls at each other and as they impact on your opponent, the armour, the combat armour explodes off."

Despite a challenging economic climate and poor weather that has negatively impacted sales, John Baulch of Toy World Magazine remains positive: "I think there's always been a popular belief that parents will always try their best to look after their kids, no matter how touchy the economy is and I think we're seeing that at the moment in the toy industry."

New technology is the focus this year, with some toys using touch screen tablets and interactive programmes that connect to the iPhone and iPad.