Piers Morgan-tweeting bookshop 'overwhelmed' after online plea

A bookshop involved in a spat with Piers Morgan has been "overwhelmed" with support after announcing it had six days "to pay the bills".

On Sunday, the Big Green Bookshop asked its Twitter followers for help to raise £10,000 to pay suppliers.

Orders have been "pouring in" since the tweet, co-owner Simon Key said.

Mr Morgan blocked the shop on his Twitter feed after it tweeted 800 lines from a Harry Potter book to him following a row he had with JK Rowling.

Mr Key acted after the Harry Potter author expressed glee at Mr Morgan being sworn at by Australian comedian Jim Jefferies on Twitter.

'Creeped me out'

In response Mr Morgan told Ms Rowling "this is why I've never read a single word of Harry Potter".

Later Mr Key said Mr Morgan "clearly needs a bit of a break from all the abuse, so as he mentioned that he hasn't read any JK Rowling, rather then having to tear himself away from Twitter to read it, I'd tweet him".

Mr Morgan said the bookshop's project "creeped" him out and blocked its Twitter account after being sent the opening 800 lines of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

Book orders have left the bookshop, in Wood Green, north London, in a "lot better position" since its plea, Mr Key said.

The social media response has "re-invigorated the shop" and "we are overwhelmingly grateful", Mr Key told the BBC.

He said: "When you're going through a tough time it helps to show you people care.

"We have a few more days to pay but the bill is considerably less than it once was."

This is the second time the store has benefited from Twitter users' generosity.

In April 2016, an editor of the Guardian set up a JustGiving page to help recoup £600 stolen from the shop.