Twin-brothers who run a special effects and illusions business in Dorset have bought Paul Daniels' wig and hope it will inspire them in their future work.

Gary and Paul Hardy-Brown are life-long super fans of the legendary magician.

They were inspired by his TV show to take up magic when they were eight-years-old.

Now 45 years later the siblings run a successful business creating special effects, illusions and animatronics for theatre, film and TV.

They recently forked out £2,730 to buy Daniels' famous toupee at an auction held by the late performer's widow Debbie McGee with Special Auction Services in Newbury, Berks.

The duo saw off stiff competition to secure the brown hairpiece.

They plan to keep their hero's wig on a headstand on their desk and hope it will inspire them in their future illusions.

Gary said: "The wig will take pride of place in a display case, probably on my desk.

"Paul Daniels was a massive inventor, which not a lot of people know, so the toupee is an awe-inspiring piece of magic history and I hope it will help inspire us."

Brother Paul added: "It's a fantastic addition to our collection. It joins pieces owned by the greats of magic including Harry Houdini, Siegfried & Roy and Wayne Dobson."

The pair haven't ruled out hiring the toupee out to other magicians to experience. Gary added: "We have had some interest already from places asking if they could display it in a touring exhibition.

"There are prop places and museums, like Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and lots of magic conventions that would probably like to hire it, so we are considering that. It's definitely an option."

As well as the wig, Gary and Paul also bought Daniel's old sword box trick and guillotine trick he used in his BBC show.

They spent about £10,000 in total.

The collectibles will be added to their impressive treasure trove of memorabilia which includes Daleks from Doctor Who, puppets from Spitting Image, Sooty and The Muppets and a full-size T-Rex from 2006 film Night At The Museum.

They will be stored at their 10,000 sq ft warehouse in Wareham, Dorset, with the tricks available to hire.

Gary and Paul's love of magic started when they were given a Paul Daniels magic book as children.

They started working as illusionists when they were 18.

They even met Paul and Debbie working on a cruise ship and got them to sign the book they had kept since their childhood.

The brothers left the magic business to set up special effects company The Twins Fx in 2010.

Since then they have created incredible animatronic creatures for Olivier Award-winning pantomimes at the London Palladium, worked on Olly Alexander's Years and Years world tour and created effects for TV shows including The One Show, Michael McIntyre's Big Shop, Strictly Come Dancing and Britain's Got Talent and Hollywood films The Mummy and Now You See Me 2 Gary said: "Paul Daniels was our inspiration. When we were eight-years-old our parents gave us a Paul Daniels magic book for Christmas. It was the moment our journey in magic started.

"That journey has taken us all over the world, first as illusionists and now as the creators of effects for film, television and theatre.

"But as young magicians Paul Daniels and Wayne Dobson were our heroes.

"There was a lot of chatter in the magic world about this sale, we knew we wanted to bid on some items.

"We bought several items in the auction - two illusions that featured in Paul Daniels' television shows, various books from his library, some antique magical posters and the toupee.

"I tried to buy a toupee Paul sold himself on eBay years ago but missed out on that occasion. So it was one of those things I just thought we had to get.

"It's panto season for us so I was bidding online at a theatre in Newcastle with 40 people around me watching and egging me on.

"I never set myself a budget. As passionate collectors of magical history, I love the unique and I've definitely found that with this piece.

"It's such an iconic piece of magic. He had that wig on for all of his career. He's a household name, everybody knows Paul Daniels, and how many Paul Daniels wigs are there in the world? Only two or three.

"The attention it has received over the last two months is proof that the Paul Daniels' legend lives on. And we are custodian of this now.

"The items will live at our headquarters and the illusions will join our hire stock. I think they'll be popular as they have such a unique provenance.