Staff's son held over Becks 'theft'

Eric and June Emmett, who worked at the Beckhams' Hertfordshire mansion, were arrested on Friday on suspicion of theft from a private address. Their son Gareth, 25, was held on Monday night over the same alleged offence. All three were questioned and released on police bail.

Mr Emmett, 55, from Nazeing, near Waltham Abbey, Essex, said the allegations against him were "fabricated nonsense".

Suspicions were raised when memorabilia belonging to the former England captain and his pop star wife apparently appeared on the eBay auction website. Former Spice Girl Victoria's parents, Tony and Jackie Adams, reportedly spotted some of their daughter's designer clothes on offer to bidders, along with the footballer's worn boots, and then discovered the items were missing from the couple's Rowneybury House mansion.

Speaking at his large detached home in a leafy part of the Essex village on the edge of London, Mr Emmett initially said: "No comment", but added: "What is in the papers is fabricated nonsense. Totally fabricated, 99% of it is totally untrue."

Asked how the eBay site could be traced to his address, Mr Emmett said: "It doesn't involve myself, that is for sure."

Mr Emmett said he had run his own company for 30 years and had no need to steal from the Beckhams.

Later, the gate into the couple's driveway was sealed with plastic cable ties - thought to be intended to discourage reporters from knocking on their door.

A spokeswoman for eBay said they were still trying to establish with Hertfordshire Police which items were involved in the allegations and how they had been obtained. Items auctioned on the website have a clear paper trail back to the seller, she said, making it very difficult to get away with selling stolen goods. "Anyone stupid enough to try to sell anything that is not 100% legitimate makes a big mistake when they try to do it on our site," she added.

A spokesman for the Beckhams said: "There has been an incident and the matter is in the hands of the police."