Jewellery stolen from the reality TV star Kim Kardashian as she was held by masked gunmen impersonating police officers in a Paris residence was worth several millions of dollars, French police have said, with some estimates as high as $11m (£8.5 million).

Reports in the French media have claimed the expensive jewellery was swiped from Kardashian's luxury residence at 3am today (3 October). The celebrity was tied up in the bathroom while the gunmen made off with the valuable items. "The total amount is still being evaluated," police told AFP.

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As many as five robbers may have been involved in the theft, contradicting Initial reports by CNN which claimed just two men had entered the residence. While the luxury residence where Kardashian was staying has not yet been named, it is believed it is located on Paris' upmarket Tronchet Street near Place de la Madeleine in the eighth arrondissement.

The assailants were easily able to overcome the nightwatchman who was charged with Kardashian's security. Some reports have claimed he was handcuffed by the group.

"Kim Kardashian West was held up at gunpoint inside her Paris hotel room this evening by two armed masked men dressed as police officers," the TV star's spokeswoman said in a statement. "She is badly shaken but physically unharmed."

Kardashian was in Paris for the French capital's Fashion Week and had earlier been spotted having dinner before the robbery.

Authorities in France believe it is unlikely the robbery is related to an earlier incident in which a Ukranian man attempted to break through Karsashian's security and touch her. She was accosted in Paris days ago by "prankster" Vitalii Sediuk. He lunged at her and tried to kiss her bottom as she was arriving at the restaurant L'Avenue on Avenue Montaigne.

Kardashian's bodyguard Pascal Duvier managed to tackled Sediuk before he got to her.

Sediuk later explained on his Instagram account that he was "protesting Kim for using fake butt implants. I encourage her and the rest of Kardashian clan to popularise natural beauty among teenage girls who follow and defend them blindly," he said.

Kim Kardashian Paris