Barnaby Bear will soon be packing up his bag and jetting off to the distant reaches of Inner Mongolia.

In September the adventurous bear will be taking part in the first-ever charity trek in the Northern Chinese province - but he should not face any problems at the border.

To the delight of his companion, John Hadfield from Hamworthy, Poole, the 19cm high bear, has his very own passport.

John, from Blandford Road, wrote to Poole MP Robert Syms seeking help in getting a passport for the bear and his request was passed on to the Home Office.

A reply from Bernard Herdan, chief executive of the UK Passport Service, wished them well but said he could not issue a passport, and suggested a UK Teddy Passport instead.

John got on to the English Teddy Bear Company and Barnaby now boasts his own blue passport with his picture in.

"I have now written to the ambassador of the Chinese Embassy asking when I get my visa, if he could put a visa stamp in Barnaby's passport as well," said John, 51. Together on September 2, John and Barnaby will set out on an arduous five-day, 60-mile organised trek to raise funds for The National Autistic Society.

John's young son Michael, six, has Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism, and is a pupil at Hamworthy First School where Barnaby lives during term time.

A huge fund-raising effort has set the retired policeman on the road to what he hopes will be a sum in excess of £3,500 and he has more money-making ideas for talks when he returns.

However it will not all be a hard slog in the footsteps of Ghengis Khan and Marco Polo. They intend to include a couple of days sightseeing.

"I wanted to see the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors and I thought I might take Barnaby to Beijing Zoo to see the pandas," said John.