Harry Potter has helped push up video sales in the UK after becoming the most successful release of all time.

The boy wizard's hit film has sold almost 1.6 million copies in one month, helping total video sales in 2002 so far jump 31% compared with the same period in 2001.

Gladiator is the biggest-selling DVD in UK history

Potter has also been credited with boosting the sales of DVD players, which saw a 280% jump in the week of the Harry Potter movie's release.

Some 861,000 DVDs of the film have been sold so far, making it the second biggest-selling DVD ever in the UK, behind Gladiator.

There was huge demand for the film when it became available on video and DVD on 12 May.

It is streets ahead in the chart of the most popular video releases of 2002 so far.

It has sold almost four times as many copies as the number two film, Moulin Rouge.

UK video and DVD sales in 2002 so far

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - 2,434,431 2. Moulin Rouge - 648,884 3. Cinderella 2 - 567,206 Source: British Video Association

Video sales in the UK are now at their highest point for more than two years.

When the film was released, Warner Home Video shipped five million videos and DVDs to shops.

They said demand had been "unprecedented" and that it had "exceeded all our expectations".

Lavinia Carey, director general of the British Video Association, said: "With such fantastic sales so far, it will be fascinating to see whether further sales between now and Christmas help Harry challenge the Jungle Book and Titanic for title of best-selling video of all time."

The Harry Potter film took a massive �64m in the UK and $317m (�216.6m) in the US, making it one of the top grossing movies of all time.

The second big screen adaptation of JK Rowling's wizard series, The Chamber of Secrets, is due for release in November 2002.