Paddington Bear's visit to Downing Street sparks humorous Twitter debate over immigration

Beloved children's character Paddington Bear has been embroiled in an immigration dispute after he visited Downing Street for a children's Christmas party.

The UK Prime Minister's official account tweeted this on Sunday night (December 12) with a picture of him outside the Prime Minister's residence: "Paddington Bear dropped by Downing Street this afternoon to attend the No 10 children's Christmas party!"

It's unclear if the stuffed bear managed to meet Theresa May herself, but the surprise appearance created a bit of a stir on social media.

One user tweeted a screengrab of a message from Paddington Bear claiming the visit had landed him in trouble with the UK's immigration authorities. The picture appears to be a creative bit of photoshopping but has been retweeted over 1,500 times.

The screenshot claimed that the meeting was a trap, and that instead of being served sandwiches, Paddington received deportation papers instead. He said:

"It was a trap! The sandwiches they made turned out to be deportation papers and they used marmalade to write "get out foreigners" on the bread. I still ate it, it's still marmalade, but now I'm quite worried about my legal situation. Send help."

Although adopted by Britain, fans of novels will know that that Paddington Bear is originally from Peru, thus technically making him an illegal immigrant in the country.

Some pointed out how ironic it was that one of Britain's most famous foreigners was visiting a government that has pledged to crack down on immigration.