Scores of people, mostly families, flocked to Waterstones in Maidstone’s Fremlin Walk last night to be among the first to grab a copy of the new Harry Potter book.

The bookseller was expecting around 100 people, but nearer to 150 turned up with just under half coming in fancy dress as one of the characters from the famous series.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth in the hugely popular adventures by author JK Rowling. Based many years on from the original stories, this sequel has Rowling’s teenage hero Harry as a grown-up father-of-three. His youngest son, Albus, bears the weight of the family legacy as the past fuses with the present.

Waterstones opened its doors at 11pm and treated customers to cakes and drinks, but they had to wait patiently until midnight to collect their copy, when the book went on sale nationally.

Meanwhile Amber Shiers won a prize for the best fancy dress costume as a cute witch. her elder sister Tegan came as Luna Lovegood.

Store manager Rachael Johns said: "What we've done historically for midnight openings around the country and stores I've worked in, is we've done a midnight launch and a book sale, but this one is different because we are having a party.

"It just makes it more fun as well and I think it's such a long time between books, it's just nice to have a celebration rather than to just turn up and flog something. That's not what the night's about actually, it's about the book and all the characters that everybody loves."

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts I and II has been co-written by Rowling, with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. It is the script-book of the play of the same name which opened to the public at the Palace Theatre in London last night.