WIZARDS and witches will be taking over Darlington town centre at Easter to keep children entertained during the school holidays.

On Easter Monday there will be a Wizard Fun Day in the town centre, sponsored by the Queen Street and Cornmill shopping centres.

Activities on the day include a dragon making workshop and face painting.

Rodney the smoke-blowing dragon will also be in town, as will a magic witch and wizard.

Youngsters will also be given the chance to be turned into wizards with workshops to make wands, wizards hats and spell books.

A spokesman for the Town Centre Management Team, which is running the event, said: "Witches, wizards and dragons are very popular with children at the moment due to the success of books and films such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

"We therefore decided to adopt this theme for the bank holiday."

Events runs from 10am until 4pm. All activities will be free but donations will go to St Teresa's Hospice.