JK Rowling turned down £2 million trip to space

JK Rowling has claimed that she created a cosmic vacancy when she turned down a trip on a spaceship.

The Harry Potter author, whose first novel for adults was published on Thursday, told fans she was given the chance to go into space.

"I was offered a seat. For a mere £2 million I could have been on the shuttle, but I turned it down," she said.

Rowling was speaking at an event for fans at London's Southbank Centre on the day The Casual Vacancy was published.

Business tycoon Sir Richard Branson is one of the driving forces behind the idea of space tourism. His Virgin Galactic scheme will see travellers fly 60 miles up into space on the SpaceShipTwo aircraft by the end of next year.

Sir Richard said he will join around 120 other tourists who have signed up for the two-hour flights, at 200,000 US dollars (£128,000) a trip.