THE discovery of Britain's largest sapphire by an amateur geologist on

the Isle of Lewis now seems likely soon to be a matter for the courts.

By last night there was a demand for an inquiry as to whether a theft

had occurred; a complaint filed with the CID in Stornoway; and a counter

threat made of legal action for defamation.

The news that a 242 carat heavily fractured sapphire and a 39.5 carat

fragment had been discovered by Ian and Linda Combe, who run a craft

shop at Elphin in Sutherland, was first reported on Tuesday. A combined

total value of #210,000 was estimated, but others hold it might be as

low as #500.

The discovery had been made last September by the Combes who, along

with other members of a gemologist party, were sifting through rubble

thrown up by the building of a peat road near Loch Roag on Lewis.

The land had been declared a Site of Special Scientic Interest 10

years earlier when other crystals were discovered.

Stewart Angus, the Western Isles area manager for Scottish Natural

Heritage, which is responsbile for the administration of SSSIs, said:

''We had been working with somebody in the National Museum of Scotland

who had permission to visit the site and look at the spoil only at the

end of the month.

''This had been cleared with the landowner as the law requires under

the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

''When this story came out I immediately phoned the National Museum in

case there had been some crossed wire.'' He wanted to know if the

geologists were acting on behalf of the National Museum, who were the

only people who had cleared anything with his organisation.

Mr Angus went on: ''Our major fear is that the widely exaggerated

figures quoted are going to encourage the worst type of exploitative

elements in society to come and destroy this site. It is tiny and the

chance of finding anything else even worth #500 is about the same as

winning the lottery.

''If you remove something from the countryside which isn't yours, and

belongs to somebody else, it is called theft. The person who owns any

material is the landowner and he asked us to contact the police on his

behalf.''

Northern Constabulary confirmed that a complaint had been received and

an investigation was underway.

Mr Combe last night insisted that he and other members of the group

had permission to work on the material on the side of the road. When

asked who had granted permission, he told the Herald: ''My difficulty is

that we are taking legal advice with a view to taking action. You can't

accuse somebody of theft in this way, but I am afraid I can't say any

more as a result.''

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the National Museum of Scotland in

Edinburgh, where one of the sapphires is on display, said that one

jeweller had valued the gem at around #500, but that was without knowing

its provenance.