Want 50K a year? Try casting a spell

Fancy 50,000 pounds a year on a stress-free job with flexible working hours and no need to wear a suit?

Well, grab your black pointy hat, take out that rusty black hessian drape from the back of the wardrobe and refresh your memory on how to turn your grumpy neighbour into a mouse. Somerset tourist attraction Wookey Hole caves is advertising for a "witch" and has already received 100 applicants since the beginning of the week.

Legend has it that the caves, near Wells, were home to the Wookey Witch who was turned to stone by the medieval Abbott of Glastonbury to rid villagers of her curse.

The vacancy has arisen because the previous incumbent has retired.

The successful candidate, who will be living in a "spacious" cave, has to cackle, not be allergic to cats and will be asked to perform "a range of tasks" including magic at an open audition scheduled for July 28.

But the appointee need not be scary.

"We want a friendly witch with a devilish element," said Gayle Pennington, marketing assistant at the caves said today.

"We're a family attractions place so we don't want to frighten the children."

In keeping with modern times, the role is open to men, women and trans-gender witches to comply with sexual discrimination laws.