ASDA to sell final Harry Potter book at less than half cover price

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Publisher Bloomsbury had refused to supply the supermarket chain with half a million copies after it said the recommended retail price of £17.99 was 'blatant profiteering'.

Asda pointed out that the price had increased by nearly a third over the sevenbook series.

It said that charging so much was the equivalent of 'holding children to ransom' and added: 'We will be championing the

right of young readers, not the profits we make.'

The store's director of general merchandise, Peter Pritchard, added: 'Setting the RRP at this level can only be seen as blatant profiteering on their part.' But in an amazing change of heart, the chain yesterday issued a profuse apology for the comments - and the publishing house relented.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - the seventh and final book in the series - will now be sold in Asda stores from one minute past midnight on Saturday for £8.87, or possibly even less.

The supermarket's statement read: 'Asda apologise unreservedly to Bloomsbury for its press release dated July 15 and withdraw this statement.'

The truce will come as a relief for hundreds of thousands of Potter fans, who had feared they wouldn't be able to get their hands on a copy.

Independent bookshops have been caught selling the book on Internet auction site eBay for nearly five times its retail price. The extra cost comes from the inclusion of a special bag and poster - which turn out to be freebies handed out by Bloomsbury.

The firm, which jealously guards the lucrative Potter brand, has ordered the website to remove the material.

It had given out satin-tie bags, posters and balloons to smaller bookshops to allay their fears they could not compete with the drastic price-cuts offered by supermarkets.

In contrast, the sellers flogging the 'special editions' of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows were charging up to £35, plus £9 postage, for exactly the same book.