Adults and children were anxiously queuing from the early hours to get their hands on the new Harry Potter movie when it came out last week.

Hundreds of copies were whizzed off shelves in the area as some stores opened early to deal with the demand.

W H Smiths, on The Grove, Ilkley, opened at 8am, an hour earlier than usual and already people had been queuing since before then.

Deputy manager John Joyce said: "It was a huge success for us, people were queuing from 7.30am outside.

"We played the new video in store for children to watch all day, it was great. We thought we were going to sell out but luckily we got a last minute delivery.

"We were shocked at how many DVDs we sold, it was nearly as many as videos. We sold hundreds of copies."

The store was also surprised at the amount of people asking if they could pre-order the Lord of the Rings film, due out in August, as they had for Harry Potter.

Mr Joyce added: "A lot of people asked us if they could pre-order Lord of the Rings for when it comes out and already I have over hundred names for that just from Saturday.

"So we have decided that due to the success of Harry Potter we will be taking pre-orders for that film as well."

Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone has broken the record for becoming the fastest selling video and DVD of all time. More than a million copies were sold on its first day of release on Saturday.

The added extras on the DVD include a 360 degree self-guided tour of Hogwarts, and the chance to learn to play quidditch.

WH Smith Ilkley branch manager Karen Padbury said this week: "It has slowed down a bit now but sales have exceeded expectations. On the Saturday, Sunday and Monday, it was just manic."

The only bad news for Harry Potter fans is that JK Rowling's fifth book in the series, The Order of the Phoenix, has been delayed until June 2003.

But the next Harry Potter film, directed by Chris Columbus, is called the Chamber of Secrets and is set to be released in November.