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Thousands of hard-pressed parents are paying through the nose for official ­merchandise from Disney’s hit movie Frozen.

A shortage of official dolls, toys and dresses and other film memorabilia has created enormous demand on eBay and prices are soaring.

One limited edition Elsa doll, priced at £500 at Harrods, was being sold for a cool £2,899 on the auction site.

And on the Mumsnet website, members regularly swap intelligence on how to track down items like the coveted “Elsa dress”.

“I’ve found Frozen stuff a nightmare to get hold of,” complained one member. “The dolls are in and out of stock ­everywhere and vary massively in price.

“The only clothing I could find was a T-shirt in Tesco that I bought in ­desperation in the end. If anyone knows how to find an Elsa dress please tell me.”

Many turn to eBay for licensed goodies from the double Oscar-winning film, which was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale The Snow Queen.

The UK site has nearly 40,000 listings for items from the film with more than 16,000 being sold in Britain. One back-to-school set costing £46 in the Disney store was attracting bids of £85.

Dolls – originally costing £20 each – were being snapped up for £40 by frantic parents. And tiaras, £10 in shops, were being bought online for £20.

Disney said last month that more clothing, dolls and soft toys based on the blockbuster animated musical have been ordered to deal with the shortage in British shops. And it’s not just here that there is a frenzy for ­products associated with the highest grossing animated film of all time, which raked in £644.5million at the box office.

In America Disney imposed quotas on some merchandise to create an “equitable” way to buy. Shoppers were only allowed to add one of any Frozen item to their online shopping basket. Mike Stagg, general manager of Disney’s UK retail division, said: “The popularity of Frozen has been phenomenal. Stock is being replenished in Disney stores on a regular basis but demand continues to be ­incredibly high.”

Frozen was in the UK box office top 10 for more than three months and is the 10th highest grossing film of all time.