Thieves demand £1m ransom for old masters

Spain's richest woman, Esther Koplowitz, has been told by thieves that she must pay more than £1m for the return of 15 paintings stolen from her flat in Madrid last summer.

The burglars have told Ms Koplowitz, owner of a construction conglomerate, that if she wants to see the paintings by Goya, Brueghel, Pissarro and Gris again she must pay the £1m reportedly offered for information leading to their return, plus an undisclosed extra sum, according to the Spanish media.

She will have to find the money herself, because the paintings were not insured.

They were stolen one August night when the burglar alarms had been turned off because repairs were being carried out on the apartment and the paintings were already conveniently bundled up to protect them from dust.

Ms Koplowitz, 51, was away at the time.

The police have arrested some of the team suspected of stealing the pictures, including the security guard on duty at the apartment block that night. But they still do not know who has the pictures now.

The most recent reports suggest that they are in London.