WIZARD Harry Potter has worked his magic again - this time on one of the last producers of besom brooms in the country.

Due to the huge demand for broomsticks sparked by JK Rowling's books and the Harry Potter film, production of heather brooms is set to boom.

The hand-made brooms, just like the ones Harry used to play Quidditch, are produced in the workshops of Brian Eddon, of Farwath, Pickering, North Yorkshire.

They are sold, along with other traditional crafts, from the tea garden that he and his wife, Nicola, run on their farm.

The couple recently received a Rural Enterprise Scheme grant from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to help market their work and to develop the tea garden.

Both enterprises have received a welcome boost from the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which has brought renewed interest in Mr Eddon's craft. The use of the nearby North Yorkshire Moors Railway as a film location has also attracted extra visitors to the tea garden.

Mrs Eddon said: "The grant will enable us to put the business on a far stronger footing and develop new ways of selling our products. The tea gardens are very popular with walkers and tourists, but the income is seasonal and very dependant on the weather.

"The Harry Potter stories have been good news for us - lots of children want a traditional witch's broomstick.

"Customers come to us because they want traditional, natural products."