British Museum faces potential £1 million bill over missing treasures

The British Museum faces a potential bill of more than £1 million to reclaim some of its missing treasures.

It has started to bring back some of the around 1,500 items believed stolen or missing with more than 600 recovered and 100 more identified but not brought back yet.

It could be years before the final cost is known but the museum expects to have to pay out compensation to collectors who bought items in good faith as well as pay for insurance and transporting items that have been sold to buyers as far afield as America, Europe and Hong Kong.

Compensation claims will be decided on an individual basis and no payments have been made yet but museum insiders do not expect to have to pay compensation in every case.

A museum spokesman said: “Payments will be made on a case by case basis - none of the money will come from public funds. The museum has specifically raised funds for this purpose and can confirm no payments have been made yet.”

All costs related to the recovery of missing items will be published publicly in the museum’s annual review and accounts.

The museum was rocked by the revelation so many items were missing from its huge collection.

The scandal cost museum director Hartwig Fischer his job when it emerged the museum had failed to properly respond to early reports of the alleged thefts.

Legal proceedings were launched in March against former curator Dr Peter Higgs, who was dismissed in July last year.

He has been accused of stealing, damaging, melting down, and selling ancient artefacts but denies all the allegations.

Dr Higgs, who worked within the department of Greece and Rome for more than 30 years, has been investigated by the Metropolitan Police but not charged.