KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 ― The original bridge that inspired AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh stories has been auctioned off for more than £131,000 (RM745,109).

The bridge was where Milne and his son Christopher Robin created the game Poohsticks, BBC reported.

The successful bidder Lord De La Warr, who owns Buckhurst Park in East Sussex, said: "It will take pride of place on the estate.”

Previously called Posingford Bridge, the structure has been restored over the years and was reopened and renamed Poohsticks Bridge by Christopher Robin Milne in 1979.

It became worn and unsafe in the late 90s and was dismantled and replaced with a replica bridge.

Former owner Mike Westphal repaired the original bridge after getting permission from the local parish council, replacing damaged parts with oak from the Weald of Kent.

He said the original wood was "just dumped in a pile in the forest, under a sheet”.

Westphal felt that "someone had to do something with it, and unfortunately that fell to me.”

The bridge was first mentioned in The House at Pooh Corner, published in 1928, when Pooh accidentally drops a pine cone into a river from a bridge and came up with the rules for Poohsticks.

The Hundred Acre Wood made famous by AA Milne sits on Lord De La Warr's Buckhurst Park estate in Withyam.

Lord De La Warr said he hoped "many children, and adults, will be able to admire the original bridge” on his estate.