In the early hours of a warm, midsummer morning, deep in the heart of one of the most picturesque Cotswold villages the outline of a plan had been agreed to board flight number was formed LX 799 landing at Brussels airport on it"s way from Antwerp to Zurich, remove and then drive away with the cargo of ?100m worth of uncut diamonds and gold bullion. The heist was to go down as one of the biggest and most audacious robberies of recent years. However, the chain of events which followed caused one of the most embarrassing incidents for British Intelligence and posed a serious threat to diplomatic relations between the Kremlin and Downing Street.