HARRY Potter author J K Rowling has waved a magic wand for a North-East teenager.

The author's personal charity has sent 17-year-old Zoe Woodcock a cheque for £1,000.

The cash is to help Zoe, who has helped her wheelchair-bound mother for years, fulfil her dream of going to dance college in Preston this year.

Zoe longs to become a professional entertainer - and when Ms Rowling heard of her devotion to her mother, Jacqueline, she decided to help out.

Her generosity stems from having a mother with multiple sclerosis (MS), the same condition as Mrs Woodcock.

"I didn't know anything about it until my mam told me I had been given £1,000 - it's pretty amazing, isn't it?" said Zoe, a student at Darlington College of Technology.

Zoe's mother was diagnosed with an acute, progressive form of MS 14 years ago and now has to use a wheelchair.

"Zoe has been absolutely brilliant. She helps me with the housework, shopping and ironing, she even does my hair for me," said Mrs Woodcock, of Harrowgate Hill, Darlington.

"Honestly, she could win a medal for what she does for me."