Pooh Bridge
Kent Police constable Andy Cheney was found hanged at Pooh Bridge Flickr / Fred Dawson

A police officer was found hanged at a Winnie-the-Pooh beauty spot in East Sussex, police have confirmed.

Kent Police officer PC Andy Cheney was found dead at Pooh Bridge, in Ashdown Forest, on April 25.

The force confirmed it was not treating the incident with suspicion, adding that a post-mortem had concluded the 34-year-old constable, who lived in Etchingham in East Sussex, died by hanging.

The bridge, which features in AA Milne's stories about the titular bear, is a popular tourist destination and attracts thousands of visitors each year from as far as the United States and Asia.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "We can confirm that the man found dead at 6.23am on Friday April 25 at the Pooh Bridge car park at Hartfield on the Ashdown Forest was Kent PC Andy Cheney, aged 34, of Fontridge Lane, Etchingham.

"A post-mortem was held ... and death was found to have resulted from hanging. The death is not being treated as suspicious and the coroner's officer is continuing inquiries for an inquest to be held in due course."

Kent Police said it is with "great sadness" that a serving police constable had died and that it was supporting the Sussex Police with its enquiries.

Children's author Milne lived in a farmhouse close to the bridge, where it is thought he came up with many ideas for stories featuring Winnie-the-Pooh.