Internet heavyweight Amazon has snapped up The Book Depository, a Gloucester-based online book retailer, for an undisclosed sum.

The Book Depository, which describes itself as "the UK's largest dedicated online bookseller", claims to ship more than six million titles to 100 countries from its Gloucester warehouse.

The company also owns publisher Dodo Press, which has re-published over 15,000 hard-to-find titles for widespread distribution.

Andrew Crawford, founder of The Book Depository, said: "With the support of Amazon, we look forward to continuing our growth and providing an ever-improving service for readers globally."

Greg Greeley, vice president of European retails at Amazon, added: "Customers in more than 100 countries enjoy The Book Depository’s vast selection, convenient delivery and free shipping. The Book Depository is very focused on serving its customers around the world, and we look forward to welcoming them to the Amazon family."

The deal still needs to be approved by the Office of Fair Trading.