Charles Dickens' chair and the desk at which he wrote the Rochester-based classic Great Expectations has sold at auction for more than £400,000 - eight times the guide price.

The two items of furniture are said to be the most important Dickens relics ever offered for public sale.

They were auctioned at Christie's of London this afternoon and fetched £433,250.

The Victorian mahogany desk and walnut chair passed by family descent to Christopher Charles Dickens (1937-1999) and his wife Jeanne-Marie Dickens, Countess Wenckheim.

They were recently gifted to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, London, by Jeanne-Marie Dickens in order that they could be sold to raise funds to help with the treatment of sick children.

The hospitable will profit from the total funds raised.

Margaret Ford, the director and head of Christie's books and manuscripts department, said: "Charles Dickens is regarded as one of the finest authors of the English language and we are thrilled to be offering the desk and chair at which he wrote many of his later works.

"It is particularly fitting that the proceeds from this sale should benefit Great Ormond Street Hospital, which was dear to Dickens' own heart, and which received his support and patronage in its early history."