Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was front-page news on 24 May, after The Sun claimed to have tipped off bookies following wagers on Dumbledore dying in the new novel.

The national daily stated that a cluster of 50 bets had been made on the character dying, all of which it claimed were placed from the area of Bungay or nearby Beccles.

Bungay in Suffolk is home to St Ives subsidiary Clays, which was responsible for the printing of all the previous Harry Potter books.

Internet betting site Blue Square claimed it had taken 6,000 in bets on Dumbledore dying from the same locations, and had since slashed the odds from 2/1 to 4/6 before betting was suspended.

Although the bets have been placed in the locale of Clays, speculation still surrounds the printing of the novel. The Sun named Arvato subsidiary Druckerei GGP in Germany as the printer of the latest Potter tome. It would be a blow to both St Ives and to British book printing if some or all of the production has switched to the continent.

A spokesman for Arvato parent Bertelsmann declined to comment on whether it had secured part or whole of the print run contract for JK Rowling's latest offering. The company would only confirm that Bloomsbury was a client.

Clays was the subject of controversy in 2003, when a forklift truck driver admitted stealing two first edition copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, before trying to sell them to a national newspaper.

St Ives declined to comment, referring all queries back to publisher Bloomsbury.

Bloomsbury publicity director Katie Bond said that the publisher had no comment to make on the printing and distribution of the novel prior to publication.

A book printing expert commented: "It sounds like that incident [the theft] could have cost St Ives dearly. It's possible Bloomsbury wants to print it abroad for security reasons - our tabloids are so aggressive they may have decided that they simply can't risk printing it in the UK. But it will be a great pity if it has."

" It may just be the first printing as the schedule for that is more forgiving, too," the expert added.

The book is set for worldwide release on 16 July.

Story by Andy Scott