TWO MEN will be questioned this weekend by police investigating raids which targeted valuable computer equipment at Durham University.

The men were arrested by detectives from Durham in London yesterday, before being brought north to be interviewed about a series of break-ins at the university science site, in December and early January. In one raid, on December 22, burglars escaped with valuable circuit boards from recently installed computer equipment, from the Stockton Road science complex.

The cost of replacing the equipment and repairing the damaged computers, used for storing of research data, was estimated at more than £1m.

Police believed the raids were connected with similar computer thefts from other universities round the country, by burglars possibly stealing to order.

Detectives from Durham travelled to London on Wednesday to carry out joint investigations with the Metropolitan Police's Central London Crime Squad.

It led to the arrest of a 43-year-old man at an address in Woolwich and a man in his 20s in the Jamaica Inn area.

The older man was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the December 22 break-in at Durham, while the younger man was detained in connection with a subsequent burglary at the science site, on January 4.

Computer-related items seized from both properties when the arrests were made are also being brought to the North-East for further, more detailed analysis.

The university stepped up security at the science complex as a result of the raids, which were said to have temporarily disrupted research operations, although no valuable data was believed to have been lost.