Momentoes and souvenirs connected with the cartoon hero, Tintin, have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars at an auction in Paris.

It's almost seventy years since Tintin the boy reporter and his dog, Milou, first appeared and more than fifteen years since the death of his Belgian creator, Hergé.

But at the Paris auction, fans paid more than three-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars for original sketches, books, posters and toys all connected with Tintin and his adventures around the world.

Among the objects on sale were editions of an early adventure -- Tintin in the Congo -- which has been criticised for its offensively imperialist and racist attitude towards Africans.

Hergé later expressed regrets about the adventure, which was published in 1930.