Multi-million pound treasure trove unearthed in Jersey

Two metal detecting enthusiasts in Jersey have dug up a treasure trove of coins which could be worth up to £10m.

The find is possibly the biggest hoard of Celtic coins to have ever been discovered in Western Europe.

The location of the coins has been kept a secret since they were lifted out of the ground at the weekend.

Archaeologists will now take several months to sift through the earth and painstakingly lift out the thousands of gold and silver coins that have remained buried since Roman times.

Reg Mead and Richard Miles, who have been searching for the treasure for 30 years, called in the experts from Jersey Heritage to help.

They added: "We hit something hard, put the trowel hit, the shovel in, and just move it, and your hear that grinding noise of metal rubbing against metal. We just flicked it up and up came five iron age coins."

Neil Mahrer Conservator Jersey Heritage Trust Jersey Archive added: "They're from the Celts, from the French, who were being attacked by Rome and occupied by Rome at that time.

"It's certainly one of the biggest, nothing like this has been found in over 50 years. None of the people working on this have ever done anything like it in our careers."

By law, the treasure belongs to the Queen.

Richard Falle, Trove Lawyer said: "In England there is a best practice whereby people are rewarded for reporting and they will properly by statute be given the value. In Jersey, one is hoping the Crown would do the right thing. The Crown has done the right thing on occasion and not on others."