The Greek prime minister, deploying the strongest language yet for the return of the Parthenon marbles, yesterday said that Britain had run out of "feeble excuses" to retain the treasures.

At a ceremony to mark the return to Athens of two art works Greece has long claimed from the Getty Museum - and the imminent completion of a £94m Acropolis museum -- Costas Karamanlis said it was only a matter of time before the sculptures' repatriation.