A Surbiton boy has to grin and bear it after increased security checks at Gatwick Airport meant he lost his beloved Winnie the Pooh toy.

Andre Stanbridge- Bevan, eight, from Portsmouth Road in south-west London, was flying to Italy on Friday, August 11, a day after severe security measures were introduced following an attempted terrorist attack on Heathrow Airport.

Andre was told at check-in that he could take the bear with him on the plane. But security officers insisted the toy be put in the hold, even though it was too late to intercept their luggage.

Andre's mother Nicole Stanbridge said: "In desperation we turned to an easyJet employee who promised to deliver the bear to the lost property office so that he could be picked up after the holiday."

The bear was placed in an envelope and marked with Andre's name and address, but when the family returned from Italy the lost property office said it did not have it. Mrs Stanbridge was told last week, after repeated calls, emails and visits to Gatwick Airport, that the bear was no longer there.

An email from easyjet said: "All items left in lost property during that confusing period have been sent to various charities. Once we handed it to the lost property department I'm afraid any subsequent actions are out of our control as this is managed by BAA."

A spokeswoman for BAA was unable to confirm whether this is true. She said: "Obviously easyJet have done a lot to resolve this issue. In normal circumstances we would hold on to items in lost property for three months before giving them to charity."

Mrs Stanbridge said: "It is far too convenient to blame the terror alert. The blame lies fairly and squarely with easyJet, which obviously failed to brief its check-in staff sufficiently at the time. How easyJet could let an eight-year-old down like this I do not know."