Jk Rowling's cousin BEN is furious the Harry Potter author refuses to admit he was the inspiration for the schoolboy wizard or give him any of the $774 million (GBP430 million) she made from the books and films.

BEN, 37, was "inseparable" from the multi-millionaires writer while he was growing up, and insists he's the basis for her infamous character, debunking Rowling's claim she came up with the idea while stuck on a delayed train from Manchester to London.

He says, "When I read the first Harry Potter book, my jaw dropped. It was uncanny, far more than a coincidence. I know Jo based Harry on me. I can see so much of the young me in his character.

"We used to spend the weekends swapping stories of boarding school life. She was always fascinated about what I had been up to at school and used to love me telling her about the scrapes and escapades I had been involved in.

"Jo and I were inseparable and even today people stop me and tell me I look just like Harry Potter."

Teenage pictures of Ben reveal an uncanny resemblance to the actor DANIEL RADCLIFFE who plays Potter on the big screen.

26/09/2004 15:07