ALL HARRY Potter fans have dreamed of mounting a broomstick and attempting to catch the golden snitch.

One Southampton girl will have to do this if she wants to see her present again.

Dale and Chantelle Bilton, and their family, bought their 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, a remote-controlled golden snitch from Hawkins Bazaar for Christmas, but the Quidditch game might have to wait for now.

Dale, 33, was testing it with Chloe whilst visiting family in Redbridge on Christmas Day, and all didn't go as planned.

The snitch flew away, and the Redbridge resident couldn't anything about it.

"We tried to test fly it inside and the instructions said you can take the wings off to get better control, and it seemed fine.

"As we took it outside we got it up in the air and tried turning it off and there was no reaction.

"I ran round the block of flats to see where it was.

"It kept going up and it just looked like a little dot.

"I just looked at her as if to say oops."

Luckily, Chloe was able to see the funny side of it.

Dale told the Echo: "She knew there was not much you could do about it.

"She is good like that bless her.

"I don’t mind that it has not been found yet, but it’s a golden snitch so everyone should get their brooms out because it’s Quidditch time."

Dale posted the story in a couple of pages on Facebook to see if anyone had seen it, and got some comical replies.

"I've had one person reply saying they saw it fly over the duck pond in the Common, and another to say it's been causing trouble at Gatwick Airport.

"It's normally a drone or helicopter so it's quite funny that its a golden snitch.

"All the airports must watch out for Harry Potter."

Luckily Chloe got a lot of presents from Father Christmas including a new pair of trainers, clothes and makeup accessories.

She is a massive Harry Potter fan and already owns a lot of toys.

Her brother received a remote control car, which he was testing at the same time, and managed to keep all four of its wheels planted.