DODDY the globetrotting teddy bear could be the region's best-travelled cuddly toy.

The pride of Dodmire Infant School, in Darlington, Doddy has popped up in numerous exotic locations around the world.

The school's headteacher, Maureen Dixon, encourages parents and friends to take Doddy with them whenever they go on holiday.

Doddy, who has become a big celebrity at the school, always sends the children a postcard and makes sure he has several photographs taken. When he gets back, staff prepare a display of his travels to help the children learn about different places in geography lessons.

He now has his own passport and has had several brushes with customs officers, who check him carefully every time he enters and leaves a new country.

Doddy has recently returned from a trip to India, where he posed for several pictures.

He can be seen in reflective mood outside the Taj Mahal, and also enjoying himself sitting on top of an elephant and viewing the Himalayas.

The trip helped the Dodmire pupils learn more about the recent Indian earthquake and they raised almost £100 for victims by dipping into their pocket money.

Other trips in recent months included visits to Houston in Texas, the Nevada Desert, Eurodisney, Paris, Berlin, Venice, Belfast and to Spain a number of times. His biggest ambition is to get to Australia.

In this country, he has been to Blackpool and other seaside towns, and cheered on Darlington at Wembley last season.

Mrs Dixon said: "It all started by us wanting something to represent the school in other parts of the world, then this teddy bear came to us.

"It started off with staff taking him abroad with them, but then the children started taking him as well.

"Doddy always sends us a postcard, which goes round the school. The children are always asking when he's coming back.

"It's like he's a human being with his own personality.

"It brings the world to the children's' doorstep, because they haven't really got a clue what it's like to go to these places."