She was known as the greatest white female rock singer of the Sixties.

Now a Brighton shop has brought back a toy of Janis Joplin, 30 years after she died of a drugs overdose.

The toy has sold out within weeks and staff at Hive, in Kensington Gardens, Brighton, are bringing in more to cope with the demand.

Eliot Betteridge, 26, co-owner of Hive, which also has stores in Worthing and Eastbourne, was stunned by its popularity.

The toy is based on Joplin when she appeared at the world-famous Woodstock Festival.

She is standing on a platform surrounded by magic mushrooms with a psychedelic 'Ban The Bomb' sign behind her.

Dressed in flares and wearing John Lennon glasses, the toy sells for £13.99.

People of all ages have been snapping up the toys and cleared the shelves within weeks of its release last month.

Mr Betteridge said: "It is really popular and we sold out over Christmas, so we will be getting more in during the next three weeks. I expect them to go just as quickly.

"Janis Joplin is not really my generation but there appear to be lots of Joplin fans in Brighton. Janis did everything under the sun, she was a bit of a character.

"The company that made the toy, McFarlane Toys, have also done some other obscure ones for people like Kiss, Ozzy Osborne and Alice Cooper."

Joplin was born in 1943 and died in 1970 of a drug overdose.

She first rose to stardom as the frontwoman for San Francisco-based band Big Brother and the Holding Company before embarking on a solo career. She began drinking heavily to live up to her hell-raising persona before her death.

It is the latest in a series of controversial toys at the store.

We reported last year how the shop was criticised by anti-death penalty campaigners after stocking an electric chair toy.

The battery-operated Death Row Marv toy was imported from North America and features a man strapped to an electric chair.