TEN-YEAR-OLD Ellie Gammon has always had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Now the youngster has been named Manchester's best young magician by the Magic Circle.

The Beaver Road Primary pupil is the latest member of her family to be recognised for their wizardry - her 12-year-old sister Katie won the same competition two-years-ago and her dad, Steve, also dabbles in magic.

The family have a major source of inspiration - they live on Merlyn Avenue in Didsbury.

Ellie took the top spot at a recent competition where she weaved her magic to wow judges and an audience of 30 people with her impressive tricks.

The win was quite a feat for Ellie who, up until now, had only revealed her sleight of hand to her family and close friends behind closed doors at home.

Ellie - a huge fan of illusionist Derren Brown - won over the judges with her magic tricks at the contest at the David Lloyd Centre near the Trafford Centre, which were based on a jungle theme and included restoring a cut rope and card prediction.

Ellie said: "I was really nervous and my knees were shaking while I was doing it. I was worried in case one of my tricks went wrong, but actually they all went really well. I got lots of applause and everyone seemed to like it, which was brilliant."

Katie, a pupil at Parrs Wood High School, has continued to wave her wand ever since her competition win and the two girls now have boxes crammed full of magician's props at their home to practice with.

Dad Steve said: "Both of the girls have been doing magic for about two-and-a-half years now. It is quite an unusual hobby for young girls, but I suppose they became interested in it primarily because of me.

I am very interested in the history of magic and am forever reading books on it, so I think the girls just picked it up. Their friends think that it is amazing and are always asking how the girls manage to do certain tricks, but they are very professional and don't reveal anything.

"I do help them out with some tricks, but they both tend to practice by themselves separately and then come to show me when they want advice. It can be difficult for children of Ellie's age to do magic as they have to be quick with their tricks and keep control at the same time, but she really enjoys it."

And it seems that the future holds even more magic for the Gammon girls.

Steve said: "Both of the girls have said that they want to take their magic further, and rather than the average Saturday job they already have their sights set on performing magic at children's parties."