Image caption Bonnie (left) and Clyde's guns were the highlight of the bidding

Guns used by US gangsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, who died in a hail of police bullets in 1934, have sold at auction for $504,000 (£300,000).

The guns were part of the RR Auction, entitled American Gangsters, Outlaws and Lawmen, taking place in the US state of New Hampshire on Sunday.

Bonnie and Clyde's exploits during the Great Depression earned them a place in American folklore.

Al Capone and Baby Face Nelson items are among others up for sale.

'Shakespearean tragedy'

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow gained notoriety for a string of bank robberies before law enforcement officers ambushed them in Louisiana on 23 May 1934.

Items taken from the car in which the couple died, Bonnie Parker's cosmetics case and a host of photographs, were among items up for sale.

Parker's Colt Detective Special .38 revolver drew the highest bid, selling for $264,000.

Meanwhile Clyde Barrow's 1911 Army Colt .45 pistol went for $240,000. His pocket watch sold for $36,000.

Retired history professor ER Milner says it is clear why the couple are still so intriguing.

"Americans and, I think, most people love a lover... and here [were] these young people in the midst of the worst depression in the history of the world striking a blow for what they thought was right - and loving one another.

"It was almost a Shakespearean tragedy on a dusty road in Louisiana."