Muggle officials sprang into action after spoilsports tried to ruin the ending of the new Harry Potter blockbuster.

Doing their best not to read it, workers removed a banner draped from a footbridge over a busy road which revealed who dies in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The handwritten banner appeared on a bridge over the A442 near Telford in Shropshire and was seen by hundreds of rush-hour motorists.

By lunchtime workers from Telford and Wrekin's environmental enforcement team had removed the banner, principally because there was a danger it could flap down on to the carriageway, but also to stop the ending being spoiled.

In the run-up to publication of the sixth instalment of JK Rowling's wizard epic last week, there was speculation about who would be killed off.

Security was tight as the publishers attempted to keep details of the plot secret but bookmakers felt the need to suspend betting on the identify of the character who was to die amid fears that the manuscript had been leaked after thousands of pounds was bet on one favourite personality.

Asked why she was so eager to keep the plots secret, JK Rowling said: "I believe 99.9% of my readership would rather read the books and find out for themselves. I find it upsetting and disquieting that some elements are so keen on spoilers because it seems such a mean-spirited thing to do."

Since the book was published at midnight last Friday, of course, many thousands of people have read it and know who dies. Others who are still ploughing through the 600-odd pages have been trying to avoid finding out the ending.

Rebecca Parry, spokeswoman for Telford and Wrekin council, said: "It does seem a mean thing to do. The enforcement team didn't want to know the ending so they tried to take it down without looking at it."