`Aladdin's cave' police raids net eight robbery suspects

Detectives investigating a multi-million-pound string of art burglaries were yesterday questioning eight suspects following a series of dawn raids across central London.

The men were arrested following a four-month inquiry into at least 40 burglaries at galleries and private homes in Kensington, Notting Hill and Hampstead over the past three years.

The investigation started last September when a raid on the north London premises of a suspected middleman uncovered a pounds 3m "Aladdin's cave" of rare stolen books, paintings, statues and other antiques. That 1,500-item haul included five Dutch masters, thought to have been snatched from a Bond Street gallery, together worth pounds 500,000.