Two stolen paintings by Monet and Renoir with a combined value of nearly $7m (�4.2m) have been recovered by undercover police in Miami.

The paintings had been taken in December from a home in Naples, Florida, after the security system was turned off.

The 1880 Claude Monet work titled Paysage a Vetheuil is valued at $4 million (�2.4m), while La Place de Trinite - painted by Auguste Renoir in 1893 - is valued at $2.7 million (�1.65m).

Three men were charged with dealing in stolen property, authorities in Florida said.

Two stolen Turners are back on display at the Tate gallery

For three days officers tried to negotiate a sale of the paintings with the three men who offered to sell them for $1 million (�600,000), police spokeswoman Nelda Fonticiella said.

Fernando Alfaro, Rigoberto Gonzalez and Carlos Somuano were charged with dealing in stolen property and will also face federal charges.

They were sent to Miami-Dade County Jail, but it was not immediately clear when they would appear in court.

Earlier this month a waiter charged with stealing paintings and artefacts worth more than $1bn in Switzerland told a court he did it out of a love of art.

Stephane Breitwieser, 32, is accused of stealing 69 works from museums since 1995.

He was arrested in November 2001 near the Richard Wagner Museum in Lucerne, days after he allegedly stole a hunting horn dagger dating from 1584.

Last month two Turner paintings recovered by gallery officials after being stolen eight years ago went back on display in the UK.

The 19th Century treasures, now valued at �50m, had been taken from the Tate galleries' collection from a display in Frankfurt, Germany.