WHAT a wizard idea, declare Emma and Christopher Watkins, managers of the new Marmadukes hotel in York.

Warner Brothers prop maker Jonathan Tebbs the man who created beds for the film, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, was secretly commissioned by Emma's father, property developer David Hattersley, last autumn to produce a fleet of similar handmade beds for the new 22-room boutique hotel.

Mr Hattersley said: "We wanted something special and Jonathan has created a range of individual beds in brass, wood and iron, some restored from mid-Victorian times, with fabulously comfortable mattresses.

"We're not Hogwarts, but it is different to sleep in a bed that was made by the man who made Harry Potter's bed. I know because Mrs Hattersley and I have tried it!"

He refused to say how much he has paid the prop maker other than, "a considerable business investment has been made".