Potter can't help Milton hotel company after all

The Milton Hotel group, which had hoped Harry Potter's magic wand might conjure a financial turnaround, yesterday agreed to sell the remainder of its loss-making chain to Portland Hotels for between £2m and £3m.

Last month, production crews for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the forthcoming third film in the series about the adventures of the boy wizard, had made long-term bookings at its two hotels in Fort William, which the company had hoped would help turnaround its fortunes.