The Da Vinci Code plagiarism case returned to court yesterday, to decide how long the next gripping instalment of the legal battle will last.

A preliminary hearing agreed that the Court of Appeal judges will be given two days of "pre-reading" time before the case comes to court. Following these reading days, the plaintiffs will have three days to appeal.

This follows a High Court ruling in April this year that cleared Dan Brown of using Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh's ideas in his award-winning and incredibly lucrative book. The Da Vinci Code made Dan Brown the highest-paid author in history.