As Playmobil celebrates its 40th birthday, Harry Wallop goes behind the scenes at its Malta factory, where every single one of the 2.7 billion little plastic people have been made.

Playmobil was created in 1974 with just three figures a construction worker, a knight and an American Indian, it now has 3995 figurines.

German toy company Geobra Brandstatter had been making toy telephones and ride-on cars made from plastic – which had overnight become one of the most expensive commodities in the world, due to rocketing oil prices.

The chief designer, Hans Beck, was told that he had to come up with a toy that used less plastic otherwise the firm would go bust. The result was the distinctive Playmobil figure, made to to fit into the palm of a child’s hand.

The decision to manufacture in Malta was another cost cutting move as, at the time Maltese workers were paid about a tenth of the wages of their Germans, and the newly independent island was desperate for inward investment and was giving generous perks to companies who moved there.