Collectors and auction houses warned after theft of £1m vintage wine

Published: 26 May, 2011

The Metropolitan police are appealing for information after vintage wine worth up to £1 million was stolen from a warehouse in Bethnal Green in east London.

The Metropolitan police are appealing for information after vintage wine worth up to £1 million was stolen from a warehouse in Bethnal Green in east London.

A worker at the warehouse, located under railway arches in Cambridge Heath Road, dicovered the break-in on Sunday morning.

Thieves broke through a padlock on the main gates and bent a shutter door to gain access to the warehouse, having disabled alarms and CCTV cameras.

The raiders used a forklift to fill pallets with about 400 cases of mostly vintage wine, and are belived to have used three vehicles to make off following the theft ? two white transit-style vans and a lorry with a brown cab and blue sides.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Ash Rossiter said: "The stolen stock is rare and valuable. We would ask anyone with information or who is offered these goods for sale to contact us as soon as possible.

"It may be the aim of those who have stolen it to try to sell it to private collectors or auction houses."

Some of the wine stolen was owned by private investors, one of whom has offered a £5,000 reward for the return of some of the stolen stock.

Two men aged were arrested yesterday, Wednesday May 25, on suspicion of burglary.

Anyone with information should contact police in Tower Hamlets on 020 8217 7268 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.