In the light of the Jensen Button burglary I thought it was worth resurrecting this topic with this later news update ...............
" The Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCA) released a statement saying it was highly sceptical about robbers using anaesthetic gas.
"It is the view of the College that it would not be possible to render someone unconscious by blowing ether chloroform, or any of the currently used volatile anaesthetic agents, through the window of a motorhome without their knowledge, even if they were sleeping at the time," the statement said.
And as for using it on an entire villa? More likely an urban - or Riviera - myth, according to the RCA.
"They would need massive amounts of gas," says a spokesman. "We can't rule out that some sort of agent was used, but the volume of gas and the logistics involved in delivering it make it highly unlikely that this was anaesthetic.
"You have to remember, we're talking about rendering four adults unconscious in a large villa.
"When you combine that with the fact that these gases are expensive and difficult to get hold of, we are very sceptical."
So we all can sleep soundly in our Villas tonight
