NO-ONE will be charged for stealing the £1.5 million Eric Gill Relief statue from the Midland Hotel despite an extensive police enquiry.

The police team - praised for "brilliant work" locating the sculpture in a van in Pontefract - submitted a file on two men to the Crown Prosecution Service. But the CPS decided not to prosecute.

Lancaster CID Policeman DS Clive O'Beirne explained: "The man has a claim as a beneficiary on the former owner of the Midland's estate so he had a claim to the Eric Gill Relief itself. It's true that there is a court order for it to be at the Midland but this man did not remove the sculpture.

"The main thing for us was always to have the work of art returned to The Midland. A prosecution would just have been a bonus really. It's just good that we've helped get the people of Morecambe this work of art back - especially after all the publicity surrounding the case."

DS O'Beirne said he couldn't tell the story of how they tracked down the work of art because "It is still extremely sensitive information."

The city council legal department won a major court victory to secure the court order for the relief to be returned to the Midland. But days later a council employee asked to view the work. When he and a team of council workers got there all they found was the packaging.

When the police brought the sculpture back it stayed in the police car park for several days because neither the city council nor the Midland would take it in. The Midland administrators were embroiled in an insurance dispute. Eventually the council agreed to accommodate it. The frieze was returned slightly damaged.

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