Neals Cheese
A storage room of cheese at Neal's Yard Dairy. Neal's Yard Dairy

A London dairy said it was "grateful" after police announced they had arrested a 63-year-old man in the theft of 22 tons of cheese worth $390,000 earlier this week.

Neal's Yard Dairy, an artisanal cheese retailer and wholesaler, said it learned on Wednesday that the Metropolitan Police had made an arrest in the cheese heist.

"We are grateful for the progress they have made, and we will continue to support their investigation in any way we can," the company said on Facebook.

Neal's said a buyer posed as a legitimate wholesale distributor for a major French retailer to steal the clothbound Cheddar.

Over 950 wheels of Hafod, Westcombe and Pitchfork Cheddar were delivered before the fraud was discovered, the dairy said, noting it never received payment.

The cheese was believed to have been shipped to Russia or the Middle East, the Guardian reported.

The man had been and handling stolen goods," Yahoo News UK reported, citing the police.

"The man was taken to a south London police station where he was questioned. He has since been bailed pending further inquiries. Inquiries remain ongoing," police said.

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