THE new Harry Potter book has been flying off the shelves at York stores.

WH Smith's stores in Coney Street and at Monks Cross said they had never had a book sell in such volumes so quickly.

The manager of the Monks Cross branch, Scott Johnson, said the shop had sold about 1,500 copies.

He said: "We have been extremely busy, there were probably about 400 to 500 people queuing on Friday. The previous Harry Potter book did sell well, but not like this." The manager of the Coney Street branch, Mike Parkes, said they had sold about 850 copies over the weekend.

The marketing and events lead at Borders, Gavin Teasdale, said: "We have had phenomenal sales over the weekend right from Friday, when we opened at midnight, through until Saturday and on Sunday."

Updated: 11:04 Monday, June 23, 2003