We will continue searching until we find what we are looking for or until I am satisfied there is nothing here

Det Supt Jon Shatford

A team of 30 officers began searching the first yard, in Graystone Lane, Ore, on Thursday morning.

Detective Superintendent Jon Shatford, head of New Scotland Yard's Flying Squad, said the owner was co-operating fully in the investigation.

"We will continue searching until we find what we are looking for or until I am satisfied there is nothing here," he said.

"We have 30-40 officers working on the search.

A forklift truck was used to clear planks of wood from the timber yard.

'Methodical search'

"We are clearing out the yard so we can have a clean sweep inside," Det Supt Shatford said.

"We will then scan the floor to see if there is anything hidden underneath. We will be taking this methodical search on an hour-by-hour basis."

Officers are using hi-tech imaging equipment to search the area.

After conducting a fingertip search on Thursday a pneumatic drill was used to dig deeper in the yard.

Scotland Yard said the search was based on information that followed a lengthy inquiry.

The digging for gold continues in Hastings

The robbery of �26m worth of gold bullion and jewels from the Brink's-Mat vaults was the biggest in British criminal history.

It is thought that more than �17m of the cash realised from the gold has been accounted for by police.

It has previously been alleged that the rest was invested in property in Britain and Spain or drugs.

Eleven bars of the gold were found in 1985 and melted down and a further �1m of gold was later recovered from the Bank of England where it was being stored after re-entering the legal market.

Police have continued to trace cash and assets linked to profits from the haul.

Two of the robbers, Michael McAvoy and Brian Robinson are each serving 25 years.

Others have been convicted of handling the bullion or making profit from the robbery.

They include convicted killer Kenneth Noye, who was jailed in 1986 for 14 years for handling the bullion.

This sentence was reduced on appeal to 13 years.