MAGIC was in the air for hundreds of Harry Potter fans who enjoyed an enchanted late-night shopping trip to Bury.

More than 450 customers flocked to Waterstone's at midnight on Friday to snap up copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth in JK Rowling's popular series.

Adults and children queued for up to an hour to buy the book.

The Mill Gate Shopping Centre booksellers achieved their best-ever launch date sales, with a record number of books ordered in advance.

Manager Andrew McManus said: "It was absolutely incredible. It just goes to show how big these particular titles are.

"We knew that this was going to be big and had prepared for months so that everything went very smoothly on the day.

"We handed out sweets and everyone was very patient. It was a really good night.

"Some families bought as many as four copies so that mum, dad and the children could read it straight away."

WH Smith staff donned wizard outfits to open at 7.30am on Saturday, selling 623 copies of the book on the first day alone.

Store supervisor Jackie Carroll said: "It has been beyond all of our expectations, which were pretty high anyway. A lot of people placed orders in a panic that there would not be enough books in stock, but we had ordered plenty to go round."

Queues formed as early as 10.30pm on Friday at Woodfield Retail Park's 24-hour Tesco store, where 260 people bought the book in the first three hours.

Staff dressed in costume while youngsters were given Hogwarts "sorting hats" to wear as they queued for copies.

Customer service manager Tony Ingle said: "It was very well received. We didn't realise at first what the impact on the store would be, but it was a very good night. We were inundated, and the staff seemed to enjoy it as much as the kids."