TWO Radcliffe-based brothers have been signed up by Manchester United.

Scotsmen Jim and David Ferguson - no relation to Reds boss Sir Alex - have secured the contract to produce a behind-the-scenes film of Old Trafford.

They are now currently editing their 15-minute "Backstage at the Theatre of Dreams" film which will eventually be shown to the thousands of avid fans who visit the club museum each year.

The brothers were given complete access to the ground and their film features interviews with players as well as focusing on many other unsung heroes at the club - including a hamburger vendor! The assignment, which has promoted the duo's company Ferguson Brothers Ltd into the business premier league, materialised earlier this year when an approach was made by Manchester United TV to undertake the film work.

For 49-year-old Jim, who hails from Edinburgh, it is not his first involvement with the famous club. He is co-author of an official encyclopaedia of Manchester United which was published in 1998.

The former journalist and sports editor at TV AM, said: "We started filming in March and finished in May. The brief was to show just how many people are involved in putting on a match, from players and management to staff and fans. Everybody is featured at some stage.

"We have interviews with the likes of Phil Neville and the manager, right through to the man who cooks the burgers outside."

Both Jim and David face a momentous task in editing down more than eleven hours of footage into just 15 minutes.

They are busily completing the task at their company's base in Seddon Street, Radcliffe, and the finished film is scheduled to be delivered to the club museum by the end of the month.

Jim said: "The film will then be shown in the cinema within the museum when visitors complete their tour around the stadium. It will be an archive record of Old Trafford of this particular period."

Commenting on their enviable Manchester United commission, he said: "In terms of the prestige this brings us, it's enormous and it was an honour to work on this project."

He and 48-year-old David, who has worked for various international companies in his previous career as a management consultant, launched Ferguson Brothers in January 2003.

"We are a film production company making corporate videos and broadcast films," Jim explained.

"In the past year, we made a health and safety film on road safety which won the Princess Michael award. And we've also made a film for a company involved with the London Dome.

"We launched our company because we felt there was an opportunity to use film and video in a much more extended way. A lot of business and corporate customers believe this is something enormously expensive. But it's much more accessible now than it used to be."

Jim added: "Today, brochures and other printed literature can be turned into a film which has a lot more impact. The delivery method used to be on VHS only but now it can be delivered on CD-Rom, DVD or computer."