JK Rowling revealed that she turned down a trip on a spaceship.

The Harry Potter author told fans she was given the chance to go into space saying: "I was offered a seat. For a mere £2 million I could have been on the shuttle, but I turned it down."

Rowling was speaking at an event for fans at London's Southbank Centre on the day her new book The Casual Vacancy was published.

Business tycoon Sir Richard Branson is one of the driving forces behind the idea of space tourism.

His Virgin Galactic scheme will offer travellers the chance to fly 60 miles up into space on the SpaceShipTwo aircraft.

Sir Richard said he will join around 120 other tourists who have signed up for the two-hour flights, which will launch by the end of next year.