Winnie The Pooh Day: Harry Potter beaten in best-loved book character poll by AA Milne character

AA Milne's anthropomorphic teddy bear has beaten JK Rowling's boy wizard to the top spot

Considering his placement at the centre of one of the country's biggest literary successes, you may have assumed the UK's most popular book character was Harry Potter.

A new poll comprised of 1,200 people has proven otherwise, however, with A.A. Milne character Winnie-the-Pooh beating J.K. Rowling's boy wizard to the top spot.

Launched by the Reading Agency, whose library Summer Reading Challenge for children is now in full swing, the top three was rounded out by Enid Blyton's Famous Five character George.

In fourth place was Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit) while Roald Dahl's eponymous Matilda finished in fifth place.

When asked to explain why they picked particular characters, 45% of voters elected to select those filled with an adventurous streak; 37% felt their favourite characters helped them to be different while 33% of people stated their chosen character "felt like a good friend."

Completing the top ten were Lucy from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis), Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, Spot the Dog (Eric Hill) and the titular character from E.B. White's Charlotte's Web. Tracey Beaker, created by Jacqueline Wilson, finished in tenth.

Harry Potter will have to make do with being one of the biggest film franchise adaptations of all time.