Witches were today declared hip by a university researcher after centuries of being derided as evil, haggard crones.

Positive images of witchcraft portrayed by hit TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina the Teenage Witch had transformed the popularity of the occult figures, according to a researcher at Warwick University.

Rachel Moseley said witches were now seen by young females as alluring symbols of "girl power" with more glamour than rapper Ms Dynamite.

Her study, Glamorous Witchcraft, claims that at the heart of the transformation of the perception witches was sex appeal.

For example, in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, TV character Sabrina is introduced to her powers following her 16th birthday and follows a glamorous lifestyle of make-up, glitter and clothes.

According to the film and television studies lecturer, Sabrina offers a fantasy of teenage female power as her magic gives her a way of negotiating the emotional teen world of cliques and romances.

"The teenage witch genre articulates a new powerful image of femininity," the academic claimed.

"It's not that the hag and herb potions have become hip, rather witchcraft has become synonymous with power and girly magic.

With the exception of Harry Potter, celluloid representations of witchcraft are still typically female, she said.

"Historically, witches have been outcasts and much of this unease clearly stems from a fear of female force."

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