Buckbeak the Hippogriff has been given a makeover at Warner Bros Studios, in Leavesden.

The Harry Potter character has had its feathers buffed, preened and replenished in preparation for an event next month.

Featherologist, Val Jones, worked in the creature effects department on the Harry Potter film series and returned to the studios to give the animatronic Buckbeak a facelift.

Ms Jones was called to the studios to re-feather and preen the delicate winged creature in preparation for the Feathers and Flight event, which is taking place at Warner Bros Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter from Friday, April 4 until Sunday, April 27.

Buckbeak’s coast consists of thousands of individually airbrushed chicken and goose feathers.

Ms Jones said: "Buckbeak was one of the most challenging creatures I’ve ever worked on. It took almost a year and a team of 20 to build three versions of him.

"We worked closely with mechanical engineers to replicate the exact wing movement and skeleton of a real bird. Each version required thousands of feathers to be sorted, dyed and then individually glued in place by hand.

"As the Buckbeak on show at the Studio Tour is more than 12 years old now, it’s important to refresh and replenish his coat as the glue wears and feathers come loose when he bows."