Potter book to aid Madeleine search

The success of the seventh and final Harry Potter book will be used to help boost the search for missing Madeleine McCann.

Author JK Rowling has pledged to use her latest Potter instalment in a high profile appeal, asking more than 200 booksellers across the world to display posters of the missing four-year-old.

Madeleine has not been seen since she disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3.

Rowling hopes thousands of people around the globe will see the little girl's image as they queue up to buy their copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, released on July 21.

Meanwhile, the book is set to become one of the most pre-ordered items on the web with almost six million copies already snapped up at online store Amazon.

And the retailer is making sure no one gets their hands on the book before it's released. Copies of the final Potter edition are being kept under lock and key at a secret location which is constantly patrolled.

But excited fans are not the only ones trying to get their hands on the eagerly awaited book.

Independent bookshop owners will be joining the queues at supermarkets across the country to get their hands on a bargain.

They hope to make a healthier profit by snapping up stock from Tesco and Asda, as they are selling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the cut price of £8.87, cheaper than the wholesale price of £9.89 and a huge drop from the recommended retail price of £17.99.

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