Harry Potter and the sermon of fire

He has bewitched 124m readers, vanquished the forces of evil and transformed his creator into Britain's highest-paid woman.

But Harry Potter, the world's most famous schoolboy wizard, has spectacularly failed to win over the congregation of the Christ community church in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Indeed, his phenomenal powers have proved pitiful when confronted with the wrath of the churchgoers, who burned his books on Sunday night, calling them "a masterpiece of satanic deception".

As hundreds of residents opposed to the book burning protested, several hundred worshippers listened to the church's founder, Pastor Jack Brock, denounce the fictional wizard as satanic, before filing outside to toss at least 30 Potter books into the flames.

As they crooned Amazing Grace, other novels considered works of the devil were flung on the fire, while videos and CDs including the Disney animated movie Snow White and recordings by Eminem were consigned to a dustbin.

But it was Harry Potter who proved the focal point. Claiming that JK Rowling's books taught children to turn to wizardry, the pastor insisted: "Harry Potter is the devil and he is destroying people."

Mr Brock admitted that he had never read any of the four Potter novels, but said he had researched their contents.

"Behind that innocent face is the power of satanic darkness," he added, pointing to the face of Harry on a book cover.

His claims were met by jeers by other locals, some of whom waved placards, including one likening Pastor Brock to Hitler and Osama bin Laden.

"It may be useless but we want [the church] to know the community is not behind them," explained Joann Booth, who was protesting with her four grandchildren.

"Burning books leads to ignorance and that's why I'm standing out here," another protester, Vicky O'Reilly, said. "My son loves Harry Potter."