LONDON, England -- A British art thief has turned from poacher to gamekeeper to retrieve stolen masterpieces for two members of the aristocracy.

David Duddin, 57, who was released from jail last year after serving time for his part in the theft of a Rembrandt has been recruited by an ex-policeman to help find two stolen paintings valued at a total of 10 million.

The ex-prisoner has been using his former criminal contacts to make inquiries and publicise the 100,000 reward for the return of each painting.

Duddin, of Benton, Newcastle, was contacted in prison by Charles Hill, a security adviser recruited by Lord Bath and Lord Chomondley to find the stolen art.

Lord Bath, owner of the Longleat estate in Wiltshire, had a Titian, Rest on the Flight to Egypt, stolen in 1995.

The White Duck, painted in 1753 by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, was taken from Lord Chomondley's Houghton Hall in Norfolk in 1992.

Hill said: "It was my idea to see David Duddin -- since he was in prison he could help when he came out.

"Anybody who can, within reason and legally, help is more than welcome to try. The main thing is you don't commit a crime."

Ex-antiques dealer and jeweller Duddin, who served half of a nine-year sentence for handling the stolen Rembrandt, told the UK's Press Association he believed the two pieces were still in the "British Isles", although he stressed he did not know exactly where.

He added: "I am not solely in this for the money. I want the paintings to go back to their rightful owners."