Burglary link to art blaze

The catastrophic warehouse blaze that destroyed millions of pounds worth of British art was sparked after a burglary, police said today.

Thieves raided a section of the east London storage site some time before the fire started, in the early hours of 24 May.

They broke into a unit containing watches, computers and mobile phones, which is now believed to be the seat of the blaze.

While Scotland Yard said the prized art - including works by Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst - was kept in a different storage space, they would not rule out the possibility some had been stolen.

Investigations are also under way to establish whether the fire was started deliberately by the burglars to cover their tracks.

About 100 "irreplaceable" artworks belonging to multi-millionaire collector Charles Saatchi were destroyed in the fire.

"It is believed the fire began in a particular unit," a Scotland yard spokesman said today. "One of the smaller units where the fire began appears to have suffered a burglary, but it is yet to be established if the fire was deliberately started." Arson remained an option as police continued to work closely with forensic teams.

Mr Saatchi was described as "absolutely devastated" by the loss of his treasured pieces.

Dozens of other artists and collectors stored work at the warehouse - including Hirst, who lost 16 paintings and the statue Charity, based on the old Spastic Society collection boxes.

Emin's tent Everyone I Ever Slept With 1963-1995 was among the works destroyed in the fire.

Mr Saatchi is thought to have paid ?40,000 for the controversial artwork with 102 names in it.