ROYSTON has been going Potter potty as readers rushed to get their hands on the final Harry Potter novel. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sees Harry battle it out with the evil Lord Voldemort for the last time. The book has broken sales records acro

ROYSTON has been going Potter potty as readers rushed to get their hands on the final Harry Potter novel.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sees Harry battle it out with the evil Lord Voldemort for the last time.

The book has broken sales records across the country, with 2.7 million copies being sold in the first 24-hours.

Tesco in Royston was open at midnight on Friday, and about 250 people queued up to be among the first to buy the book.

Zoe Barfield, spokesperson for Tesco, said: "The children were all dressed up as witches and wizards, and many had broomsticks. It was really fun.

"We sold a lot of copies over the weekend, but had plenty of stock in to ensure we didn't run out."

At Woolworth in Royston High Street, there was a brisk trade. Manager Mark Halfacre said: "It was a superb day, we sold more than 300 copies on Saturday, which is phenomenal for a store of our size. The book was responsible for about 20 per cent of the money we took at the weekend.

"We had people waiting outside the shop before we opened on Saturday morning, so we opened the doors a bit early so they could get their copies."

As reported in The Crow last week, Royston was one of the top 10 Harry Potter hotspots in the country when it comes to online ordering. According to Royal Mail, one in every 19 homes in Royston received a copy by post on Saturday. So far the book has been very popular with readers.

John Obechowicz, 12, from Meldreth, got The Deathly Hallows on Saturday and had finished it by Monday.

He said: "It's absolutely brilliant, probably one of the best books in the series. It has a great ending and lots of things happened which I didn't see coming at all."

Gemma Porter, 16, from Royston, is about a third of the way through the book.

She said: "It's quite good how this one ties up the story lines from the previous books. I re-read the last book recently and a lot of the events in that now make more sense. I've really enjoyed it so far."

Ashley Chapman, 12, and George Cooper, 13, are also big fans. Ashley said: "It's the best one yet for sure. My dad went to get a copy at midnight on Friday."

George added: "I really like Harry Potter, and I've read a few chapters of the new book so far and it's good.

"But I definitely wouldn't go and queue up in the middle of the night to buy a book.