ONE of JK Rowling's former teachers says he suspects the author may have based one of her Harry Potter characters on him.

John Nettleship taught at Wyedean Comprehensive between 1976 and 1983 when JK Rowling was a pupil there.

He told The Guardian's Weekend magazine this week that he believes Hogwarts teacher Severus Snape may have been partly based on him.

Rowling has said that no characters in her Harry Potter series were based more than 10 per cent on any one person.

Mr Nettleship said: "I suppose the fact that I have long black hair is just a coincidence.

"To be honest, I think Snape, especially in the later books, is very like me.

"Joanne would have been about 12 when I taught her. Her days at Wyedean were pretty miserable.

"The school was like a prison and then her mum came down with MS.

"Anne Rowling worked as my technician, and Joanne would come and wait at the science block for her mum so they could walk home together.

"It was obvious the child was very concerned about her mother - preoccupied.

"She was a very quiet child. I don't remember her ever answering a question - she would go to great lengths to avoid responding.

"I think she was tucking it all away in her head to use later in her stories."