The sixth Harry Potter book has shot to the top of Amazon's Hot 100 books chart - despite not being available until July.

Pre-orders have ensured its No 1 position in the chart, less than 24 hours after the release date was announced.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be published on 16 July 2005.

It is 18 months since the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was released.

This was Amazon.co.uk's largest pre-order item ever with 420,000 pre-orders.

The firm's managing director, Robin Terrell, said: "The fact that the book has already hit number one in our Hot 100 books chart shows how incredibly excited customers are about the sixth Harry Potter."

Source: Press Release