Playmobil has responded to campaigners who said its 'Bank with Safe' play-set sends out the wrong message to children.
Danny Bryan, chairman of Communities Against Gun and Knife Crime, said the toy was "horrendous" as it includes a gun-toting bank robber, reports The Mirror.
He said: “We don’t want to be encouraging young people to look at these sorts of things. I think it is horrendous that young people are given all these images to shape them.
"I wonder what is going on. It it is sending out the wrong message."
Jamie Dickinson, Playmobil marketing manager, responded: "We have been producing police play sets for 35 years and a large number of customers buy pieces when the police theme is available in the range.
"One thing our customer feedback tells us is that it is important that children can be taught, through play, the importance of recognising good from evil and ‘baddies’ from ‘goodies’.
"Our ‘cops’ and ‘robbers’, in the guise of policemen, police cars, criminals and jails, enable these scenarios to be created.
“We fully support creating a safe environment for all children and would hope that in their own small way our sets deliver this in a secure, but believable, way.”
Fans also left messages on the Playmobil Facebook page defending the product.
One, Mandy Winter, wrote: "Is someone really kicking off about this? It makes perfect sense to me to teach children from a young age about right and wrong, and what the consequences are of behaving in the wrong way.
"Why shouldn't we encourage children to use their imagination to determine this sort of thing for themselves?"
