A copy of today's Charlie Hebdo has sold on eBay for just under £100k.

The UK version of the French satirical magazine, which cost just 3 euros (£2.30), attracted fierce bidding on the internet auction website all morning before finally going for £95,500, plus £3.20 postage - about the price of a small flat in Mitcham.  

The seller is based in Gloucestershire, according to eBay.

It is among several copies of Charlie Hebdo attracting bids on eBay now that the print run has purportedly sold out in newsagents across Europe.

The new magazine carries a cartoon of a crying Prophet Mohammed on its front cover in defiance of the gunmen who slaughtered 12 people at its Paris offices, including four cartoonists, over its depictions of the Islamic spiritual leader.

Three million copies of the magazine have been printed, its largest ever run, with translations into English, Spanish and Arabic and versions available in Italy and Turkey. Hundreds are said to have been earmarked for distribution in the UK, although some retailers have declined to stock the magazine.

Al Qaida terrorists have claimed to be behind the bloody attacks.