Two men have been remanded in custody charged with the theft of two important works by the artist John Constable.

The oil sketches - Dedham Lock And Mill (1810-15) and Sketch For Valley Farm (c1835) - are together worth about �1m and were found to have disappeared from a storeroom in the Victoria and Albert museum in 1998.

Kevin Gande, 34, a motor trader from Basildon, Essex, was charged with two counts of theft, relating to two Constable paintings, on or before 6 November 1998.

He was also charged with handling stolen goods on or before 19 January 2000.

Kevin Jones, 38, also a motor trader from Beckton, east London, was charged with two counts of theft and a further charge of being in possession of a loaded firearm on 19 January, while being arrested for theft.

He was also charged with being in a public place with a firearm and ammunition suitable to use with the firearm on 19 January.

Part of 400-work collection

Both were remanded in custody until 31 January by Uxbridge Magistrates Court in Hillingdon, West London.

Constable's family gave the museum the contents of the artist's studios after his death, and its 400-piece collection of his work is one of the world's largest.

The two sketches were painted near the birthplace of the great English landscape painter on the Suffolk-Essex borders and were studies for bigger paintings.

They have been recovered by police and are due to go back on display at the London museum within a few weeks.

A third man has been released on police bail in connection with the police inquiry into the thefts.