Harry Potter's flying car spirited away by
thieves
LONDON - Thieves have spirited away the "flying" Ford Anglia car
used in the Harry Potter films, British police said on
Friday.
The blue 1960s-style car's disappearing act took place from under a
tarpaulin at South West Film Studios in St Agnes, Cornwall,
southwest England.
"For those who have not seen the Harry Potter films this is the car
that flies in the movies and is very well known," said a Devon and
Cornwall Police spokesman.
"It is believed that the vehicle could not have been driven,
therefore it is suspected that it would have to have been towed or
fully lifted from the scene."
The car made its first appearance in the second instalment of the
adventures of the boy wizard, taking the eponymous hero and his
friend, Ron Weasley, to Hogwart's School.
The vehicle was said to have been in a poor state of repair, but
visible in the studio grounds from an adjoining road.
It vanished at some time between Wednesday and Thursday
afternoons.
"The thieves may not have known its connection with the films, and
just thought it was a classic car, or it may have been a Harry
Potter freak," the police spokesman added.
The fourth film in the series -- "Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire" -- hits screens in Britain on November 18 and is expected to
be one of the Christmas season's biggest box office earners.
The Harry Potter books, by Joanne "J.K." Rowling, have been
translated into 63 languages thus far. Earlier this month, her
literary agent said the series had now sold more than 300 million
copies around the world.
- AFP /ls
