UK book sales hit record

Harry Potter sales were boosted by the film

UK book sales have topped £1bn for the first time.

The surge in sales is attributed to the startling success of the Harry Potter books, as well as the more adult hit Bridget Jones's Diary.

After the Harry Potter film came out, sales went through the roof

Luthfa Begum, Bloomsbury

The figures were released by Whitaker Book Track, which monitors some 80% of book sales in Britain.

The monitoring service said that JK Rowling's Harry Potter books accounted for four of the top five sellers in 2001 - selling more than 800,000 copies each.

The new sales figures included internet sales, which have not been collected before.

"We monitored book sales worth 1.27 billion pounds in 2001.

"That includes sales in major bookshops, in supermarkets, independent shops and on the internet," said Whitaker Book Track's Susan Wakefield.

More than 110m Harry Potter books have now been sold

Leaving aside online sales, British book buyers spent 2.6% more on books in 2001 than in 2000.

Besides Rowling and Fielding, another author contributing to the bumper sales total was Dave Pelzer, whose Child Called 'It' sold more than 500,000 copies.

The release of the Harry Potter and Bridget Jones films was a major factor in the record sales, according to Luthfa Begum, marketing executive at books retailer Books Etc.

"After the Harry Potter film came out, sales for the Philosopher's Stone went through the roof," said Ms Begum.

Recently Bloomsbury, publisher of the Harry Potter books, said that profits were likely to beat expectations - thanks to the release of the first Harry Potter film.