The creator of Paddington Bear has described how the character came about unexpectedly after the idea of a bear landing at Paddington Station caught his imagination.

Michael Bond was speaking about Paddington Races Ahead, the newest Paddington book in which he goes to the Olympics.

He told the Today programme's Sarah Montague that the sign around Paddington's neck saying "please look after this bear, thank you" came from a childhood memory he had of refugee children coming down to London wearing a label around their neck at the train station with a small suitcase.

"Characters with longevity never change... while the world changes around them," he explained.

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