A £30 million Leonardo da Vinci painting stolen from a castle four years ago is believed to have been recovered by detectives.

Although the painting has yet to be formally identified, officers from four crime enforcement agencies are confident that it is The Madonna With The Yarnwinder which was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle, near Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway in 2003.

The painting belonged to the Duke of Buccleuch who died last month at the age of 83. He was devastated when thieves stole his 16th century masterpiece. Until now, attempts to recover it had failed despite a £1 million reward.

A spokesman for Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary described the inquiry as "fast moving" but declined to give any further details about the investigation. He confirmed that the other agencies involved included the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Strathclyde Police.

A large manhunt was launched after the theft from the Duke's ancestral home. Regarded as a particularly audacious robbery, the thieves arrived with other members of the public when the castle opened in the morning and escaped after snatching the painting from a wall in the staircase hall. During the theft, two men overpowered a female member of staff and fled in a white VW Golf which was later found abandoned three miles away.

At the time, the Duke's son, Richard, the Earl of Dalkeith, said: "We are very shocked and deeply distressed by this theft. The painting has been in our family since the mid-18th century.

"It is a work of great serenity and beauty. The National Gallery of Scotland has confirmed it was created in da Vinci's workshop in the early 16th century and is largely by the famous artist himself."

Police believe that the thieves must have known exactly what they were looking for and where the painting was hanging.

Drumlanrig Castle's art collection was built up by the Duke, who had been confined to a wheelchair since breaking his back in a riding accident in 1971.

Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of art is stolen every year in Britain.

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