The Lolita Midsleeper Combi bed for very young girls has a very short shelf life.

A chain of retail stores in Britain has withdrawn the sale of beds named Lolita and designed for six-year-old girls after furious parents pointed out that the name was synonymous with sexually active pre-teens.

How did this happen?

"What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either," a spokesman told British newspapers.

"We will be talking to the supplier with regard to how the branding came about."