Cult movies are always popular, and if the picture is rare it is certain to fetch more.Sarah Hodgson, of Christie's in London, said: "It's only recently people have been drawn into collecting, although it's an older hobby in the States, where there were obviously more to choose from in the past Now, people recognise British and foreign posters. Japanese are also becoming increasingly popular because the artwork on them is so different."Whereas buying modern art would be too expensive for many people, the market for posters is booming. Many collectible items can still be picked up for less than £1,000.Ms Hodgson added: "The posters are certainly an art form. Some of the artwork on them is really beautiful, like on The Mummy, which is incredible."Hot sellers currently include any Hitchcock films, westerns, horrors, cult British and foreign cinema and films of the 1930s.Christie's has a vintage film posters sale on 27 March.. A government crackdown on unscrupulous swindlers who prey on aspiring performers was announced yesterday to help stamp out rogue operators in showbusiness. A government crackdown on unscrupulous swindlers who prey on aspiring performers was announced yesterday to help stamp out rogue operators in showbusiness. High-profile cases involving the actresses Caroline Quentin, Leslie Ash and Martine McCutcheon have led to the Government drawing up new rules to stop agents fleecing clients.The regulations will also protect thousands of nurses, nannies and teachers who use agents to find jobs.

In future, no "registration fees" can be charged before agents have arranged work for clients and they will have to use properly controlled client accounts when handling their earnings. Offending agents can be banned from operating for up to 10 years and fined up to £5,000.The plight of actresses and famous models has drawn public attention to agents deceiving their clients. Though the actresses are affluent, they all claim to have lost large sums to agents.Before, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate could prosecute cases going back only six months but many entertainers do not discover they have lost until after that period. There have been several high-profile cases, including Caroline Quentin, star of Men Behaving Badly, who sued her agents Sharon Hamper Management for hundreds of thousands of pounds in voice-over fees.Other stars who complained of losing money to agents include the models Kelly Brook and Jordan, Leslie Ash (also a star of Men Behaving Badly) and Martine McCutcheon who lost thousands of pounds of earnings from EastEnders. Ms McCutcheon is shortly to star at the National Theatre in My Fair Lady.The Government crackdown will give increased protection to more than 500,000 temporary workers, including secretaries, teachers, nannies and computer programmers. It will also allow them to move from temporary to permanent work more easily.Last year the private recruitment industry grew by more than 20 per cent and had a turnover of more than £20.8bn in sectors including entertainment, construction, IT and caring and medical support. A new code for nanny agencies will be issued by the Department for Education and Employment..

A mentally ill mother who killed her two babies by smothering them was yesterday ordered to be detained in hospital. A mentally ill mother who killed her two babies by smothering them was yesterday ordered to be detained in hospital. Julie Ann Ferris, 29, put her hands over the face of her nine-month-old daughter, Hayley, and then, several years later, did the same thing with her eight-month old son, Brandon.The mother, who was said to have the mental age of a six-year-old, collapsed last June when a jury at Birmingham Crown Court decided she had killed both babies.Yesterday, Mr Justice Crane, sitting at the High Court in London, made the hospital order and also an additional restriction order. Ferris cannot now return to the community without Home Office approval.The court was told that Ferris's daughter Hayley died in November 1993, but police only began an investigation after Brandon's death in May 1998.When police began looking at the two cases they discovered similarities. Ferris had been a frequent visitor to hospital with both of her children, claiming each had suffered fits.Mr Justice Crane said he was making a restriction order on the basis that Ferris posed a serious public risk - not only for any future child that she might have but any other children for whom she might become responsible.. The renegade MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson has decided that Nelson Mandela did not, after all, have a "long-standing" relationship with the spy agency and has told his publishers to excise all such allegations from his book The Big Breach. The renegade MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson has decided that Nelson Mandela did not, after all, have a "long-standing" relationship with the spy agency and has told his publishers to excise all such allegations from his book The Big Breach. In a letter to Anthony Sampson, the biographer of the former South African president, Mr Tomlinson says he now accepts that in all probability Mr Mandela did not know that the British officials who met him when he travelled to Britain in 1990 were MI6 agents posing as diplomats.The book claims Mr Mandela and his former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, flew to Kent from France on a special operations helicopter where they held "secret discussions" with government officials.

Mr Tomlinson stands by his assertion that the Mandela visit was organised by MI6, but now says: "I realise that Mr Mandela may not have been conscious that he was meeting MI6 as opposed to ordinary government officials. I have asked the publisher to remove all mention of Mr Mandela."Mr Mandela described the allegations, which were reported in a British broadsheet newspaper as "a disgraceful fabrication", and they were given little credence in the South African press.In the letter Mr Tomlinson added: "I had no intention of causing him [Mr Mandela] any distress at all, and am mortified that he has interpreted what I said as a slur.". Tony Blair has postponed a visit to Dublin on Monday in order to step up efforts to kick-start the stalled peace process in Northern Ireland. Tony Blair has postponed a visit to Dublin on Monday in order to step up efforts to kick-start the stalled peace process in Northern Ireland. A scheduled meeting of ministers from the British and Irish Governments, which has already been was delayed last month, was called off for a second time yesterday so that they can concentrate on securing a breakthrough in negotiations with Northern Ireland's political parties.Downing Street said the postponement made sense because it would enable the same officials and ministers who would be preparing for the planned Dublin session of the British-Irish Council to focus on the peace talks."It shows there is real engagement going on here on the issues," said the Prime Minister's official spokesman.

"The parties are focusing on the outstanding areas and doing so in good faith."It is believed the talks could pave the way for a new commitment by the IRA to put its weapons beyond use in return for a scaling down of the British security presence in republican areas of the province, particularly in South Armagh. But problems remain over the Government's plans to bring in sweeping changes to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), which have not been accepted by the republican Sinn Fein and the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).British officials appeared slightly more cautious than Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, who said after meeting Mr Blair on Wednesday night that progress could be achieved over the "weekend and coming days".Mr Blair's spokesman said yesterday: "Until everything agreed comes together in a way that can command confidence then nothing is agreed."Last night Mr Blair held separate talks in his House of Commons room with David Trimble, Northern Ireland's First Minister and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, and Seamus Mallon, Deputy First Minister and deputy leader of the SDLP.They cut short a trade visit to Europe in order to join the new push for peace.As the meetings got underway, Downing Street said: "Progress is being made but it is slow These are very complex issues. Everybody recognises that this has got to go at its own pace and it's important that we don't put artificial deadlines on it."Number 10 added: "Time will tell as to how this resolves. Everybody wants to move forward as quickly as we possibly can but I think nobody wants to rush anything in any sort of way which might jeopardise the end result."The Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness held talks with Mr Blair in Downing Street on Tuesday night but were unable to come to an agreement on police reform. Mr Adams said there was a considerable gap between the Government's current proposals on policing and the recommendations made in the Patten Report on RUC reform."We have been trying to persuade the British Government that this issue of policing to the Irish peace process is very like the whole issue of Jerusalem in the Middle East process.