Fifteen Metropolitan Police officers are to be rewarded for preventing a gang carrying out a �200m robbery at the Millennium Dome.

The world's most valuable diamond, the Millennium Star, was the main target of the gang when it was on display in the Dome in November 2000.

The gang were caught red-handed by the Flying Squad who were lying in wait for them.

The officer who led the operation, Detective Chief Superintendent John Shatford, is currently leading the hunt for the killer of Margaret Muller, the American artist who was stabbed to death in an east London park.

The Millennium Star is described as flawless

The diamond company De Beers later presented an exact replica of the diamond to Scotland Yard's Crime Museum.

The Millennium Star, described as "a perfect diamond with absolutely no flaws", was part of a collection of gems worth �200m.

But the Flying Squad had spent months in surveillance of the gang and the diamonds had been replaced with replicas the night before the robbery.

As the raiders used a JCB digger to smash their way into the Dome on 7 November the police moved in.

Ninety armed officers had been placed in and around the Dome, taking the place of staff and visitors.

Mr Shatford said: "The robbers were a sophisticated, cunning and dangerous gang and once we had identified the Dome as their target, we needed to plan for every eventuality."

Five men were sentenced to a total of 71 years in jail in February 2002 for their parts in the raid.