Paddington Bear has been restored to a new temporary new home on Platform 1 at Paddington station after a campaign from Martin Roberts, a BBC TV presenter who presents Homes under the Hammers backed by fans including Hugh Bonneville who played Mr Brown in the Paddington films. 

As part of the opening of the Elizabeth Line at Paddington Station, Martin commented on Twitter on 14 July that Paddington had been moved from his central location under the clock at the station to a corner near one of the entrances to a cafe. His initial post had 4000 likes with 944 retweets with Network Rail confirming that he had been moved as his previous location is now part of an evacuation route and could cause issues in an emergency. Whilst they confirmed that Paddington was set to get a new pedestal and backdrop as part of the move and this was only temporary, fans protested stating that as a much-loved visitor attraction, he should be placed in a more prominent location for people to find. 

The bronze sculpture of Paddington was designed by Marcus Cornish and placed in the station in the year 2000 marking the association between Michael Bond’s famous fictional character and the station he was named after by the Browns. 

After meetings between Network Rail, Paddington Station and Martin Roberts took place, he was delighted to announce on Twitter that on 10 October that Paddington had been moved to Platform 1 on a temporary basis until a better location could be found. 

Martin was delighted with the outcome of his campaign and the positive action taken by Network Rail.

Paddington’s popularity has only increased over the last 10 years with both films, Paddington and Paddington 2 achieving critical and box office success but also more recently with the filming of the Queen in a sketch with Paddington to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee.