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THE producers of the Harry Potter movies met with the residents of Lacock on Wednesday night to negotiate with the locals.

Scenes from the first two Harry Potter blockbusters were filmed in the village and in the cloisters at Lacock Abbey.

In the most recent film, Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix, the cloisters courtyard is enhanced using computer animation and featured as a courtyard in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

But the filming crews want to return to Lacock with many of the main characters to capture a series of spooky night scenes for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the protagonist Potter, is set to be involved in the local filming.

Around 40 residents attended the meeting and all but one voted in favour of the filming taking place.

The movie-making teams now have permission to return for four days in October and film scenes between 5pm and 5am.

High Street and Church Street will be closed and the bus stop outside the George Inn looks set to be relocated for the duration.

In return for the inconvenience, Warner Brothers has promised a sum of £30,000 to be paid to the village, which will be split between the Abbey owners National Trust, and Lacock Parish Council.

Additionally, each resident will receive a sum of £200 to ease the inconvenience and there will be a secure parking service for locals.

National Trust property manager Graham Heard attended the meeting and called for a minute's silence before business got underway to mark the death of Lacock postmaster Michael Hands on Sunday.

Nearby in Neston, filming for the BBC's new period drama Lark Rise to Candleford, starring Dawn French and Julia Sawalha has been hampered by the inclement weather.

A spokesperson for the BBC said: "No-one has been able to get down on to the set and we have had to change all the schedules.

"The floods put us back somewhat and the weather has been terrible throughout the summer.

"Then we were delayed further when foot and mouth disease broke out and we put a halt on filming again.

"Things are improving and we hope to get going soon."

8:00pm Thursday 23rd August 2007

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