Antique books stolen in 'Mission: Impossible-style' raid

A collection of antique books worth more than £2m has reportedly been stolen in a theft similar to the heist carried out in the Mission: Impossible film series.

Thieves allegedly stole as many as 160 rare and limited publications by abseiling through a hole in the ceiling of a warehouse in Feltham, London, on 30 January.

They used "commando-style" techniques to evade motion sensors, according to the Mail on Sunday, which compares the heist to the daring antics of Tom Cruise in the hit action films.

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According to the paper, a dealer based in Padua, Italy, lost £680,000 worth of books, including the "jewel in the haul": a 1566 copy of Nicolaus Copernicus's De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, worth around £215,000.

Along with other experts, the dealer suggested the heist might have been organised by someone with a specialist knowledge of the books. He said: "It was clearly a robbery done to order. It was a specialised gang. They took only books, nothing else."

Another anonymous source agreed, telling the newspaper: "They [the books] would be impossible to sell to any reputable dealer or auction house. We're not talking Picassos, or Rembrandts or even gold bars. These books would be impossible to fence. It must be for someone specialist. There must be a collector behind it."

The thieves were apparently seen on CCTV ignoring expensive electrical goods also stored in the warehouse. Instead they headed straight for six sealed metal containers housing the rare books, which were due to be flown to the US for last weekend's California International Antiquarian Book Fair.

One source claimed the raiders checked the books against stock lists and "threw the ones they didn't want away".