The £3,000 sex robot which was the star attraction at a big electronics fair in Austria this month, has broken down after a large number of visitors got overexcited.

Samantha the Sex Doll had been showing off her 'skills', which include reacting to touch, hugging and moaning - and remembering individuals she has 'interacted' with, at the Arts Electronica Festival in Linz.

However, Samantha's creators have now been forced to send her to be repaired, after visitors left the robot 'heavily soiled' and with broken limbs.

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Broken: Samantha the Sex Robot has been sent for repair, after overexcited visitors at the Arts Electronica Festival in Linz, pictured, left the robot 'heavily soiled' and with broken limbs

Samantha is the latest development in a growing trend in Austria which has seen brothel customers preferring robots over sexual intercourse with a human.

Samantha's developer Sergi Santos from Barcelona, Spain, described the way visitors approached the robot as 'barbaric'.

'The people mounted Samantha's breasts, her legs and arms. Two fingers were broken. She was heavily soiled.'

'People can be bad. Because they did not understand the technology and did not have to pay for it, they treated the doll like barbarians.'

Mr Santos said Samantha had to be sent back in a parcel to Barcelona for repairs and cleaning, but he added: 'Samantha can endure a lot, she will pull through.'

Testing, testing: Samantha's designer Sergi Santos said visitors at the fair had treated the robot 'like barbarians'

A growing number of brothels in Austria, where prostitution is legal and regulated, are adding sex robots to their roster

Mr Santos says Samantha can remember someone she has interacted with in the past, as she communicates according to the way she was treated by them before.

The robot reacts to touch, speaks multiple languages and is even said to be able to learn new things thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) software.

Samantha approaches visitors at the festival by asking 'How are you?' and is even seen looking people deep in their eyes or handing out hugs.

According to one tester, Samantha 'moans' and reacts to having her breasts touched, and Santos adds that she is able to replicate a female orgasm 'at a higher sex frequency'.

For all her 'features', Samantha is a costly sex toy, and will set back a prospective buyer some 3,700 euro (£3,375)

Samantha the Sex Doll is a £3,000 interactive robot designed with one specific purpose: pleasure

She is the latest development in a growing trend in Austria which has seen brothel customers preferring robots over sexual intercourse with a human

Artificial intelligence: The robot reacts to touch, hugging and moaning - and remembering individuals she has 'interacted' with

The robot reacts to touch, speaks multiple languages and is even said to be able to learn new things thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) software

However, the price tag does not seem to be putting customers off, as Santos, based in Barcelona, said he has already sold 15 'Samanthas'.

A growing number of brothels in Austria, where prostitution is legal and regulated, are adding sex robots to their roster, local news reports.

It follows the success of a sex doll christened Fanny who became the most popular 'attraction' at the 'Kontakthof' brothel in the capital Vienna.

Psychologist Gerti Senger, said that she was shocked by the news that Austrian men were preferring dolls to prostitutes.

Senger, co-chair at the Austrian Society for Sexual Research (OeGS) called the trend 'a real autistic tendency'.