Harry Potter and the not-so-secret next book

Sorcery worthy of a boy wizard was at work in a Suffolk field yesterday when copies of the new Harry Potter book, which is not due out until 21 June, made a mystery appearance.

Two first editions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were found lying in a field in Bungay by a local man out for a walk.

After stumbling on the 255,000-word children's story a quarter of a mile from Clays Ltd, the book's printers, the 42-year-old father of two, who did not wish to be named, contacted The Sun.

The newspaper sent a reporter to collect the books, which had their covers missing, and it has now stored them in a safe at its headquarters in Wapping, east London.

The newspaper has vowed not to reveal any of the plot details so feverishly awaited by millions of Harry Potter fans and is planning to return the stray copies to Bloomsbury, the author's London publisher.

However it did disclose that the author, JK Rowling, has dedicated her fifth book to her husband, Neil Murray, their new son, David, and Jessica, her daughter from a previous relationship.