Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales

One of the most successful characters in film history will swap his Philosopher’s Stone for limestone in the latest release.

A crew has been filming footage of the Yorkshire Dales for use in the latest Harry Potter film. The movie footage and stills will be used as backdrops for scenes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which will be shown in cinemas in two parts in November next year and July 2011.

Grassington Moor and the impressive 80m limestone crag of Malham Cove will feature in the film, which is directed by David Yates.

Sue Quinn, supervising location manager for the movie, said: “We have been doing a lot of filming in Scotland and we wanted somewhere different that had a certain isolation so we came to the Yorkshire Dales national park. It’s very beautiful here.”

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority chairman Carl Lis said: “It’s good to think that the iconic landscape of the Dales is going to be seen by a worldwide audience in the next Harry Potter film.

“We get dozens of requests every year from film companies wanting to shoot in the national park, which shows just how special an area it is.”

The two final installments of the Harry Potter series will follow the previous six films, featuring the young wizard’s battle with his nemesis Lord Voldemort. The movies, based on author JK Rowling’s books, are the biggest earning pictures in history.