Up to £1.5m offered in rewards after £10m jewellery theft from London home

The victims of a £10m jewellery raid from a north London mansion have offered rewards totalling £1.5m to help catch the thief and recover their stolen items.

The items of jewellery, as well as £150,000 of designer handbags and £5,000 in cash were stolen from the house on exclusive Avenue Road, near Primrose Hill, on 7 December.

The homeowners, who have not been formally identified, are offering a first reward of £500,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thief.

They are also offering 10% of the value of any recovered items of jewellery for information that leads to its retrieval, which could total as much as £1.5m, the Metropolitan Police confirmed.

The Met Police believes the house was targeted between 17:00 and 17:30 GMT by a man who climbed in through a second-floor window.

The suspect is described as white, aged in his late 20s to 30s, and is said to have worn a dark hoodie, cargo pants and grey baseball cap and had kept his face covered.

Among the items taken, totalling £10.4m, were distinctive pieces such as two De Beers butterfly diamond rings, pink sapphire earrings shaped like butterflies from Katherine Wang, and a gold, diamond and sapphire Van Cleef necklace.

Many of the missing items are unique in their design, and therefore easily identifiable, the Met Police said.

Avenue Road, where the raid took place, links the Swiss Cottage and Regent's Park areas and has some of the most expensive properties in London.