As Michael Bond picked up a last-minute Christmas present for his wife, little did he realise it would be the inspiration for a legend.

For the tiny toy was to spawn a multimillion pound global empire, with everything from books to TV shows and even dustbins featuring his name.

"I bought the small bear on Christmas Eve 1956," said Michael. "I saw it left on the shelf in a London store and felt sorry for it.

"I took it home as a present for my wife, Brenda, and named it Paddington, as we were living near Paddington Station at the time."

The plight of the unwanted teddy prompted Michael, then a BBC cameraman, to put pen to paper and document the little bear's "life story".

Although written for fun, rather than with an eye to publication, 10 days later he found he "had a book on his hands".

"It wasn't written specifically for children, but I think I put into it the kind of things I liked reading about when I was young," he said.

Michael's festive jottings resulted in A Bear Called Paddington, the tale of a polite, and very cute, illegal immigrant from Darkest Peru.

Sent to England by his Aunt Lucy, who had just gone into a Home for Retired Bears in Lima, Paddington stows away in a lifeboat to make the trip.

After surviving on marmalade rations, he ends up on the platform of Paddington Station, wearing a label stating "Please look after this bear. Thankyou."

That poignant label, Michael later revealed, was inspired by his memories of wartime news footage showing labelled evacuees fleeing the London Blitz.

"It was the first image I had of Paddington, with all his belongings in a small suitcase on a station platform," he said.

Luckily for Paddington, he is soon discovered by the Brown family, who offer him a home with them at 32 Windsor Gardens and later share his adventures.

"The great advantage of having a bear as a central character is that he can combine the innocence of a child, with the sophistication of an adult," said Michael.

"Paddington is not the sort of bear that would ever go to the moon – he has his paws too firmly on the ground for that. He gets involved in everyday situations."

Although Michael's literary agent, Harvey Unna, liked the first Paddington book, it was turned down by several publishers at first.

Eventually, however, the story was accepted by William Collins & Son, and illustrator Peggy Fortnum was commissioned to bring Paddington to life.

A Bear Called Paddington was finally published on October 13, 1958 – the first of more than a dozen books to detail his adventures and mishaps.

And although Michael was paid just £75 for the initial tale, it has since spawned a multimillion pound merchandising industry around the world.

There is even a thriving memorabilia market for the little bear too, with early replicas in perfect condition fetching up to £150 on eBay and other auction sites.

Paddington's continuing popularity, believes Michael, is down to his no-nonsense attitude.

"He has a strong sense of right and wrong and doesn't take kindly to the red tape bureaucracy of the sillier rules and regulations with which we humans surround ourselves," said Michael. "As a bear, he gets away with things. Paddington is humanised, but he couldn't possibly be 'human'. It just wouldn't work."

The Paddington books proved such a great success that, in 1965, Michael was able to retire from his job at the BBC to concentrate on writing.

As well as his favourite bear, he also created the Olga da Polga and Monsieur Pamplemousse series, as well as penning a variety of other popular story books.

Since Paddington's first outing in 1958, his books have sold more than 35million copies worldwide, and have also been translated into over 40 languages.

But the global popularity of the little bear is still rather a mystery to 82-year-old Michael, who was awarded an OBE for services to children's literature in 1997.

"I am constantly surprised by all the translations, because I thought that Paddington was essentially an English character," he said.

"Obviously, Paddington-type situations happen all over the world."

* Read more about Paddington Bear and Michael Bond on the official Paddington Bear website at www.paddingtonbear.co.uk

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