e^+e^- to bbar b W^+W^- events at the Next Linear Collider: colour structure of top signal and irreducible background

We examine the colour structure and charged particle yield for both the $t \bar t$ signal and the irreducible background processes contributing to \eebbww\ production close to the \ttb\ threshold. The charged particle multiplicity for the various components of the cross section is computed as a function of several kinematic variables. Our study may have important implications for recently proposed studies of interconnection phenomena in \ttb\ production at high--energy $e^+e^-$ colliders