'Harry Potter' book banned from Asda

Publishing house Bloomsbury has cancelled an order for the new Harry Potter book to all Asda shops.

They are claiming that the decision has been made because they have not been paid by the supermarket chain.

However, Asda has said that they believe the reason to be based on the fact that they criticised the book's £17.99 price tag.

A spokesperson for Asda said: "It just seems funny that after we expose the potty Potter price hike, Bloomsbury are trying everything they can to stop kids getting hold of Harry Potter at a price they can afford."

The Bloomsbury marketing director retorted, saying that the cancellation was based on an invoicing issue, but did acknowledge a disagreement in the pricing of the book.

She said: "Asda have had a problem with our pricing of Harry Potter for a while now, and they sent out a very aggressive press release saying that we were ripping off children.

"We think at 608 pages, £17.99 is extremely good value."