A BRIDE who stopped off at a bookshop on her way to the church on Saturday was among the hundreds in Huntingdonshire who made sure they got their copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hot off the press. Jenny Way, 29, from St Neots, set off from he

A BRIDE who stopped off at a bookshop on her way to the church on Saturday was among the hundreds in Huntingdonshire who made sure they got their copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hot off the press.

Jenny Way, 29, from St Neots, set off from her family home in Avenue Road dressed in her gown and veil with her father in a 1949 silver Rolls Royce for the ceremony in St Mary's Church.

But they made a detour to Waterstone's where staff were waiting with the book ordered as a surprise by Jenny's father, Terry.

He told The Hunts Post: "She said it was wonderful. She was thrilled - she laughed and said: 'I don't believe it!'"

Mr Way said his daughter and her new husband, Sam, are both Potter fans and after their reception at Longstowe Hall, took the book with them on their honeymoon to Thailand.

The couple, who met at Surrey University now both work in London on the production of DVDs.

Just 12 hours earlier - as clocks struck midnight - staff at Waterstone's were selling hundreds of copies of the book, costing £8.99, to a queue that snaked round the shop and out into the street.

Manager, Jackie Houchin, said: "It was raining so we tried to keep everyone inside the shop but there was still a queue out of the door. We cannot say exactly how many copies we sold but it was in the hundreds."

Among the first people in the queue - many of whom were dressed as characters from Hogwarts - were the shop's very own Harry and Hermione lookalike competition winners, Daniel Thorpe, eight, from Great Paxton, and Ellen Dooley, nine, from Huntingdon.

The pair were invited to tear the wrapping off the boxes of books in the store - just on the witching hour - and become the first to see the new books.

They also received a goody bag containing a free copy of the book, plus a wizard's book of spells, and a snitch - with which to play quidditch.

Daniel, who has been reading Harry Potter since he was four, said on Monday after reading a few chapters that the new book was "brilliant".

Ellen, who has also read all the other books and seen all the films so far, said she liked the Harry Potter stories because of the adventures and the group of friends.

"It's very exciting. The very nasty wizard that I hate is Voldemort but I think he won't get away with it this time."

Also at the head of the queue were brother and sister Lara and Liam Kingshott, aged 12 and 10, from Offord D'Arcy.

Their mum, Gill, said she was also a big fan. "Last year, when Harry and the Half-Blood Prince was released, it was such a lovely summer that I sat in the garden reading and I said to the children, if you want anything, just ask your dad."

Lara, who was part-way through the book on Monday, said: "It's really good but it's not the same without Dumbledore. He added a bit of mystery but kindness. My mum wants to finish the book before my brother in case he tells her the plot.