LONDON, July 19: Sotheby, London's oldest auction house is to end regular sales of antiquities in here and move the business to New York following allegations it sold artifacts smuggled into Britain, The Times of London reported today.

The reported move follows increasing concern among archeologists that the international antiquities market encourages looting and illicit excavation of religious sites, particularly in India, Russia, Egypt and Italy.

In the future, Sotheby's in London will hold only occasional sales from collections whose origin is definitely known, the newspaper said.

Sotheby's was closed today and no one could be contacted to comment.

In February, Diana Brook, Sotheby's New York-based chief executive, announced a review of practices in London after a British TV documentary team caught Sotheby's old master specialist in Milan in a sting.

A journalist offered Roeland Kollewijn a painting, pretending it was inherited, and Kollewijn was recorded saying it would sell better in New York or London, and offering to help circumvent an Italian law against taking the art out of the country.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.