Why does the 'stretch billboard' setting on the particle system appear to pull particles inwards?

I’ve been using the Shuriken particle system. When I change my particles from ‘billboard’ to ‘stretch billboard’ it looks like the particles get sucked in to the particle system before they are emitted. Why does this happen and is there a way to stop this?

Thanks.

Try setting the Length Scale to a negative number (in the particle systems Render module).