THE NEW Harry Potter film has put a spell on Lakelanders since its release on Friday.

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Fans pre-booked their tickets, leaving the Brewery Arts Centre sold out on all four of its Friday, Saturday and Sunday showings.

It is the first time that the centre has showed new cinema releases during the annual Kendal Mountain Festival, which finished on Sunday.

Ian Trickett, senior house manager, said: “It’s taken weeks of planning to get all this organised.

"We’ve lost out on new releases in previous years, and we don’t want to lose that revenue stream, especially with the cuts on the way.”

Among the 2,232 film-goers who watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the Kendal cinema this weekend were Joe Gifford, eight, of Ulverston, Cal Theis, nine, of Kendal, and Sam Wilkinson, nine, of Kendal.

Sam brought along his wand which had the engraving ‘Sirius’, named after film character Sirius Black.

Joe said: “I hope there will be no kissing in this film."

"We've seen all the other films and I've been waiting for this one to come out for ages," added Cal.

Meanwhile, Zeffirellis cinema in Ambleside is providing six showings a day of the new Potter flick to meet demand.

“It’s been very successful and probably the best opening we’ve had this year,” said general manager David Stanning.

“It’s a great boost for November for us because it’s normally a quiet month.”

Around 1,200 people went to see the movie at the Royalty cinema in Bowness at the weekend, which ‘compares favourably’ with numbers at other Potter films, according to owner Charles Morris.

Around 800 people had seen the flick at his Ulverston Roxy cinema.