Community spirit 'helped to bring Paddington home'

A PADDINGTON Bear statue which was destroyed by two RAF engineers has been fully repaired and returned to its home town.

- MATHILDE GRANDJEAN

The sculpture in Newbury, Berkshire, was damaged last month when two Royal Air Force engineers broke it in half after a night out and made off with part of it.

Vandals Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, both 22 and engineers at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, were sentenced for criminal damage at Reading Magistrates' Court and ordered to pay £2,725 each towards the costs of repairing it.

The rebuilt statue was unveiled in the town centre on Wednesday, with locals expressing their joy at the beloved character being brought back home.

Among those at the unveiling ceremony was Anthony George, who said he was "devastated" when the statue was damaged and decided to immortalise Paddington with a tattoo on his leg, pictured right inset.

The 64-year-old, from Hungerford in Berkshire, said he got the tattoo three weeks before the official return of the statue to Newbury.

"I'm very proud of it," he said.

"I just want to symbolise what a wonderful fictional character Paddington is. I grew up with Paddington, so it means a lot.