A LITTLE bear with a big past is going on display in Dorchester this Easter.

‘Wee One’ started life 84 years ago in Australia and was sent to England in 1942 by either the Red Cross W.V.S.

He has been ‘much-loved’ by his owner, Ann, for the past 72 years after she swapped him for a celluloid doll with a friend.

But now he has been given a space at the Teddy Bear Museum so that Ann ‘doesn’t have to worry’ about him anymore.

Jackie Ridley, the museum’s curator, said: “Wee One is a charming addition to our collection.

“We are very grateful to Ann, who now lives in Bourne End in Buckinghamshire, for giving him to the museum.

“We have given him a lovely place to live and will sure to be a great ‘mini’ attraction for our visitors this Easter.”