AN AUTHOR is hoping a magical children's tale based on a threatened South Lakeland village post office will become the next book to rival JK Rowling in the bestseller's lists, reports Paul Duncan.

The Nutacre Chronicles, the imaginative tale of a mysterious village shop where the arrival of peculiar parcels herald exciting adventures for three local children, is set in a fictional version of Natland, where the store has a much less certain future.

Author of the book is Marion Marshall, from Middlesbrough, who decided to put pen to paper following the enraptured response from her three grandchildren, who live in Natland, to her impromptu bedtime story sessions.

"I visit my daughter and her family in Natland quite a lot and every morning the kids used to jump on my bed to ask for stories so I decided to make them the heroes of the story and made it up as I went along and the adventures just got sillier and sillier as I let my imagination run wild," said Mrs Marshall.

Originally called The Natland Chronicles, Mrs Marshall decided to change the name of the village to Nutacre.

However, real-life villagers will recognise echoes of reality at the end of the book when the shop is threatened with closure, as Natland Post Office is one of around 40 outlets across South Lakeland targeted as part of a nationwide review of the Post Office network, which ends next year.

The Nutacre Chronicles is available by calling Marion Marshall on 01642-314404.

l Author Marion Marshall's three grandchildren Isaac, five, Josie, eight, and Sarah, ten, Leiper are pictured with Natland postmaster Graham Needham. They are holding copies of Mrs Marshall's book The Nutacre Chronicles, in which the village post office is based on that of Natland.

(Glen Gater photo D7L078GG01)