AVRIL Lethbridge remembers the good old days, when manners cost nothing and children said please and thank-you.

Now the 79-year-old has made it her mission to bring them back – by designing an ‘app’ for iPads and iPhones based on her own manners and etiquette card game.

Mrs Lethbridge, a grandmother-of-four, created the Nice Bear, Naughty Bear card game two years ago.

The former teacher said she was inspired to do something about today’s youth and their manners when she was on the bus and an old lady got on, but not one person got up to offer her a seat.

She said: “In the end I offered her mine. And I was 77 at the time.”

An app is a programme which can run on mobile phones and tablet computers.

Mrs Lethbridge’s app, which she tested out on her own iPad tablet computer, features 16 nice and naughty bear characters, each with a catchy rhyme which helps the young player remember their manners.

The bears, with names such as Thank You Bear or Greedy Bear, represent nice or naughty behaviour.

Mrs Lethbridge, of Thorncliffe Road, North Oxford, said: “It’s a new twist on the old star charts we would use to encourage and reward children for good behaviour.

“Parents simply create a profile for their children, choose the bear’s behaviour they wish to encourage or discourage, set the reward from the reward shop on the app, or choose their own.

“You can create and print out personalised reward charts, stickers and certificates to reinforce the message. Children are given instant results – whether a ‘ping’ for good or a ‘buzz’ for bad behaviour.

“There is nothing new about the concept, but it is just a new interactive way for parents to teach their children good old-fashioned manners.”

The app has been available for download since Thursday for a one-off payment of £1.99. Sales are already good, with the app listed on the iTunes homepage.

Mrs Lethbridge added: “Being told ‘It really is an ugly pose, to stick your fingers up your nose’ by Nose-picker Bear takes the nagging away from the parent, and children are more likely to pay attention.

“Manners cost nothing. They are the bedrock of a happy and contented life and they make the world a better place.”