The front cover of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"
© AFP/Scholastic-HOLONDON (AFP) - The town, which was home to Agatha Christie, pre-ordered more copies of the seventh edition of author J.K. Rowling's hugely successful Harry Potter series of books per capita than any other in Britain, according to online retailer Amazon.co.uk.
Amazon's top 10 list of pre-orders per capita was dominated by small towns rather than big cities, with Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire second and Faringdon in Oxfordshire third.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" goes on sale on July 21, with 250,000 pre-orders for the book in Britain, and more than a million worldwide.
Rowling has said she is poised to kill off two characters in the final instalment and many fans fear that Harry, in his last year at Hogwarts school, will be one of the victims.
The Harry Potter books have sold 325 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 64 languages, as well as being converted into a successful film franchise.
The books have made Rowling an estimated one billion dollars.
The fifth movie in the series is due for release about one week before the final book is released.
©AFP