THE WINNER of a £3000 sculpture has been located on the other side of the world after a one-month search by a famous Lakes tourist attraction.

Throughout 2007 the World of Beatrix Potter attraction in Bowness invited visitors to become detectives and uncover a secret code hidden among their three-dimensional displays of Peter Rabbit and friends.

The puzzle was based on Beatrix Potter's own secret code, which she employed to record private thoughts and observations in her diary between 1881 and 1897.

Six spyglasses were supplied to help visitors find tiny hidden characters from Beatrix Potter's code and solve the riddle. Visitors were able to decode the mystery word using a key comprising letters of Beatrix's code.

Three-year-old Amelie Stow from New Zealand was chosen as the winner from thousands of entries after she solved all the clues correctly with a little help from her family.

On the entry slip, Amelie's parents wrote her name and grandparent's telephone number in Hest Bank, Lancashire, where they were staying on holiday.

However, Amelie's grandparents spent all winter in New Zealand with Amelie and the family, and consequently only found out about the messages on their answering machine in March.

Amelie and her family visited the World of Beatrix Potter on Saturday April 12 to celebrate her 4th Birthday and be presented with the fabulous limited edition silver sculpture of Beatrix Potter's characters.

The silver sculpture is a smaller version of the 15 foot bronze Enchanting World of Beatrix Potter sculpture that was unveiled at the attraction in 2006 as part of an event attended by star of Miss Potter, Renée Zellweger.

It depicts a mount populated by characters from all 23 of Beatrix Potter's tales surmounted by three children releasing the figure of Jemima Puddle-duck.

Richard Foster, General Manager of the World of Beatrix Potter, said: "We are really pleased to have found the winner and enjoyed meeting Amelie and her family. She was delighted with her sculpture which is one of only ten that exist in the world."

Amelie's parents said: "Amelie is thrilled with her prize, we were so shocked when we heard she had won and it's great timing with it being her Birthday too! She loves coming to the World of Beatrix Potter, we try and come and visit at least once a year. The silver sculpture will take pride of place in her bedroom."