Plans to improve access to Pooh Bridge unveiled

Christopher Milne, the son of AA Milne, on the bridge in Ashdown Forest in 1979

Plans to improve access to a bridge made famous in the Winnie the Pooh books have been put forward.

More than 35,000 people a year visit the wooden Pooh Bridge in Ashdown Forest, near Hartfield, East Sussex.

The bridge was the venue for the game Poohsticks in AA Milne's stories about the honey-loving bear.

A lack of car parking and footpaths hinders visitors, however. East Sussex County Council said it had agreed with the landowners to improve this.

These plans include a new car park improvements to paths.

Pooh Bridge was originally called Posingford Bridge and dates from at least 1907.

It inspired AA Milne, who lived in a house nearby, and was last rebuilt in 1999.

Councillor Matthew Lock, the cabinet member for the environment, said: "Pooh Bridge is an important part of our heritage."