11:32pm UK, Monday May 31, 2004

Cinemas showing the new Harry Potter film are being issued with night vision goggles in a bid to stamp out piracy.

Daniel Radcliffe

Ushers have been asked to check that cinemagoers are not secretly recording pirate copies of the movie using video cameras.

The night vision goggles have been distributed along with the film to Vue Cinemas, formerly known as Warner Village, in the UK.

Jamie Graham, who manages the Vue complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, said the measure had been taken because of the extraordinary popularity of the film.

Thousand of tickets for the Prisoner of Azkaban had been sold by 9am on the first day at his cinema.

He said: "It is an incredible response and makes you realise why the distributors are so keen to protect the film from pirates.

"I have been working in the cinema industry for ten years and I have never heard of anything like this before."

Hundreds of fans turned out for the premiere of the new film in London's Leicester Square on Sunday.

Among those attending were stars of the film including Daniel Radcliffe, 14, who plays Harry, Emma Watson, also 14, who plays Hermione Granger and Rupert Grint, 15, who plays Ron Weasley.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third movie based on books from the hit children's series penned by author JK Rowling.

The Potter books have proved a global hit and netted an estimated £435m for Ms Rowling.