SCHOOLBOY sorcerer Harry Potter has woven his magic for Blackburn bakery chain Inter Link Foods which has enjoyed a spell-binding 52 per cent leap in profits for the first three months of the year.

The young wizard is one of the characters who feature in a range of novelty cakes produced by the group along with TV characters such as Bob the Builder and Bart Simpson.

At the company's annual general meeting, chairman Jeremy Hamer told shareholders that pre-tax profits for the first quarter were 52 per cent higher than for the same period last year.

"We have had another good start to the year," he said, "Our recent acquisitions are performing well and we are now seeing the benefits and economies of scale which will enable the group to maintain competitive prices."

Inter Link Foods employs more than 700 people from its group headquarters in Blackburn where it has two bakeries. The rapidly-expanding company bakes cakes and other pastry products for most of the big supermarket chains, including Tesco, Asda, Safeway and Morrisons. Its mainstream products include chocolate mini-rolls, swiss rolls, fruit pies and cherry bakewells.

Last year, Inter Link Foods made £1.66 million profit on a turnover of £18.7 million. During the year, it opened a new, custom-designed bakery at Shadsworth and took over three companies in an £11 million spending spree.

Over the past year, the company has been one of Lancashire's best-performing stocks on the market with its share price up by 27 per cent over the past year.

Its acquisition of the Creative Cake Company in March gave it the merchandise rights to a 'who's who' of the TV cartoon world with characters including Thomas the Tank Engine, Bagpuss and Winnie the Pooh.

Said Mr Hamer: "Current trading is in line with expectations and October will see the launch of a number of lines including some particularly strong licensed character cakes.

"Although competition is as strong as ever in the sector, I am confident that we can look forward to another excellent year."