IT has been a sought after toy for decades and with the release of the new Lego Batman Movie the ubiquitous plastic brick isn't going anywhere soon.

The new film, due to hit the big screen on Friday, has received rave reviews and will be a further boost to sales which already count in the millions round the globe.

And now a Scottish Lego expert has lifting a lid on the building block's success as he unveiled his latest video supporting Paisley's bid to be UK City of Culture 2021.

Teenager Morgan Spence has already been praised by US chat show host Jimmy Kimmel for his short films, which are created using Lego and stop-motion animation. A fan of the toys from a young age, he said that its everlasting appeal is that it's possibilities are endless and only bound by the imagination of whoever is playing with it.

He said: "The magic of Lego is that it's a simple toy which you can use to make things that aren't simple. You are given the basic blocks and then it's up to you how complicated or creative you want to be. There are no limits, except for the number of bricks you have.

"I was first introduced to Lego playing with sets my dad had that my grandparents had kept 40 years ago. And they still fit together with the new ones I had. It's just a timeless toy and they've not changed the winning formula in all that time."

The 17-year-old's video features landmarks from the town including Paisley Abbey and the town hall, famous faces such as Paolo Nutini and David Tennant and even references to Paisley pattern, painstakingly rendered in Lego and animated.

Morgan, from Kilbarchan, gained recognition for his block-based movies after releasing Brick Flicks – a series of stop-motion animation films using Lego to create famous movie scenes.

It came about after fellow Lego artist Warren Elsmore, who made a section of the Forth road bridge in the toy, gave the then 15-year-old a two-week deadline to create a promotional video.

His Brick Flicks film has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube and led to the teenager appearing on US TV, being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel and creating an animated version of Grand Budapest Hotel.

Lego was launched in 1932 as a line of wooden toys built in the workshop of Dane Ole Kirk Kristiansen, switching to the familiar plastic bricks in 1949.

The Lego Batman film is the second film based around the toys, following 2014's The Lego Movie, which made £375 million at the box office worldwide.