Jewellery snatched in British Museum raid

Police are hunting a thief who stole medieval Chinese jewellery from the British Museum.

The raider beat sophisticated security systems and pocketed around 15 items, including ornate hairpins and fingernail guards.

He is thought to have posed as a visitor and grabbed the items from under the noses of staff at the world-famous London museum, which is home to valuable antiquities including the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles.

Police will investigate the possibility that the Chinese jewels, which were housed in Gallery 33, were stolen to order for a private collector.

A museum spokeswoman said the items, stolen on Friday, were "historically important". Staff only noticed they were missing on Saturday morning.

A police source said: "We believe the theft took place while the gallery was open to members of the public as no alarms were activated and there was no sign of a break-in."

The British Museum has scores of security staff patrolling its two and a half miles of galleries and corridors around the clock and there are highly sensitive alarm systems.

A 17th century Japanese statuette worth £100,000 vanished in 1990.

And in 1993 burglars broke in through the roof and stole £250,000 worth of Roman coins and jewellery.