Scotland on Sunday has posted a story about areas of Scotland being currently assessed for locations for Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince:

One has the 900ft cliffs usually only frequented by gannets and gulls, the other has 365 stone steps meticulously carved out of the headland by herring fishermen in the 18th century.

But the spectacular rocks and caves of the far north of Scotland are in the running to become locations for the next Harry Potter blockbuster film.

Warner Bros, which is preparing to shoot Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, has sent an executive to the cliffs and caves around Cape Wrath, and also to a sea cave close to the Whaligoe Steps near Wick, and has been in talks over filming in the north.

The producers are interested in using the caves and cliffs as part of the dramatic climax of the new film - the sixth in the series - in which the heroes wind their way along a sea-lashed coastline in search of the soul of the evil Lord Voldemort.

Sue Quinn, a London-based locations manager with Warner Bros, travelled to Scotland last month, taking a boat trip from Lochinver around Cape Wrath towards Durness, and then heading to Wick to check out the shore and caves at Whaligoe, near Lybster.

The main locations she checked out were:

*) Smoo Cave, near Durness, which is 200ft long, 130ft wide, and 50ft tall at its entrance;

*) Clo Mor, near Cape Wrath, which at 921ft, are the highest cliffs on the UK mainland;

*) The arches under Cape Wrath, which contain a string of long caves;

*) Stac Clo Kearvaig, a tower of rock that rises 130ft above the waves near Cape Wrath;

*) The cave at the Whaligoe Steps, which lies in a bay enclosed by two large sea cliffs.

The fifth film in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix arrives in conventional theatres and IMAX on July 13th, 2007.

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince arrives in theatres on November 21, 2008.