Paddington Bear arrived in Penrith in October one of 23 Paddington statues placed across the UK as part of the promotional events ahead of the premiere of the new Paddington Movie on the 8th November.
The statue in Penrith was placed on a town council bench in Little Dockray and received a flurry of visitors and photos taken with the bear as the novelty of the visitor to Penrith was new.
But attention has faded as Paddington becomes part of the towns street scene and the buzz of the new movie fades after mixed reviews of the film over its opening weekend, with critics calling it "charming-enough", but some agreeing the film struggles to reach the heights of its predecessors and others calling it slow another film critic calling the move “the worst in the franchise"
The arrival of Paddington on a bench in Penrith was not a chance happening Penrith Town Council told us “The project has seen all partners Penrith Town Council, Penrith Bid and Westmorland and Furness Council working closely to make this happen and we are all delighted with the warm welcome Paddington has received especially from our younger residents and visitors.”
It has now emerged that as well as providing a town council bench to place the Paddington statue the town council paid a contribution towards the statue of £6,000 as a share of the total cost for Penrith hosting the statue as part of the promotional campaign for the new movie.
The town council paid £6,000 to Penrith BiD as a share of the total cost six days after Paddington arrived in Penrith in October.
Although the total cost for Paddington in Penrith has not been revealed one of the other 23 locations across the UK playing host to an identical statue has confirmed that they have funded a visit that has cost almost £20,000.
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