An auction of old posters from the Golden Age of Hollywood, including 1932 Boris Karloff horror classic The Mummy, has fetched �158,000.

The 65 one-sheet images were found in a now-defunct cinema in Jerome, Arizona which closed nearly 70 years ago.

The auction took place at Christie's in London, where The Mummy made �80,750 - a European auction record for a film poster.

Christie's said it was one of only three copies known and it was bought anonymously, well above the �30,000-�50,000 estimate.

Sarah Hodgson, a film poster specialist at the auction house described the sale of the collection as "incredible".

'Delighted'

The posters were originally owned by the cinema's owner, but he could not bear to part with them. When the collection passed to his son-in-law, they were sent to Christie's to be sold.

Christie's is the European centre for the sale of vintage posters from early Hollywood, and the auction attracted many film buffs, who left the pre-sale estimate of �100,000 far behind.

The anonymous owner was said to be "delighted".

The collection also included an atmospheric image of 1933 film Supernatural, which was bought by Andrew Cohen, a British collector, for �28,200 - double the estimate.