Despite having earlier announced he would leave some time next year,Fischer said his ongoing presence was “proving a distraction”.

“That is the last thing I would want. Over the last seven years I have been privileged to work with some of the most talented and dedicated public servants,” he said,adding it had been an honour to lead the “amazing institution”.

Fischer’s deputy,Jonathan Williams,has also resigned. The outcome of the interim arrangement is expected within days.

Peter Higgs,a senior curator at the museum who had worked there for 30 years,was sacked in July after the museum was told that priceless treasures had vanished. Staff and conservators who “loved the objects” were “in tears” after an internal investigation revealed the scale of the losses,The Times reported. Higgs denies any wrongdoing.

On Thursday police said that a man had been interviewed after the alleged thefts of ancient artefacts. The Metropolitan Police said that no arrests had been made but that investigating officers had questioned the individual under caution.

George Osborne,former chancellor and chair of the British Museum,said Fischer had acted honourably but said the ongoing scandal had created a “turbulent period” for the institution.

“We are going to fix what has gone wrong,” said Osborne. “The museum has a mission that lasts across generations. We will learn,restore confidence and deserve to be admired once again.”

Despina Koutsoumba,the head of the Association of Greek Archaeologists,claimed this week that the scandal underlined the need to repatriate artefacts to their country of origin.

The row comes at a sensitive time for Osborne,who is trying to arrange a deal with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the future arrangements for the Parthenon Sculptures,the so-called Elgin marbles.

The Elgin Marbles were acquired by Lord Elgin,at the time a diplomat to the Ottoman Empire,in the early 19th century. Greece has long called for the British Museum to return its collection.

Under Osborne’s plan,sections of the sculptures housed by the British Museum would be loaned to Athens for a period of perhaps 10 years,with other Greek treasures coming to London as “collateral” and forming the basis for temporary exhibitions.

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