The nanny for Robert De Niro and wife Grace Hightower has been charged with stealing jewellery.

35-year-old Pole Lucyna Turyk-Wawrynowicz was called into suspicion when the De Niros discovered that valuable items were missing from their New York home, reports The Evening Standard.

The newspaper quotes a police spokesperson as saying: "Grace Hightower called police and reported that some earrings that were very valuable were missing from her home.

"That led to an investigation and eventually Ms Turyk-Wawrynowicz was arrested at 8pm on Monday."

Police searching the nanny's home found a pair of earrings worth $100,000 (£55,000) apparently belonging to Hightower. In total she is accused of stealing $500,000-worth of cash, jewellery and clothing from other clients, much of which may have been sent back to Poland.