Search for £4m hard drive in tip

We've all heard of the phrase where there's muck there's brass...

One man's certainly hoping that's true after mistakenly throwing away a computer hard drive with information on it that's worth more than £4 million.

James Howells from Newport had 7,500 Bitcoins - an online virtual currency - and it's now worth a fortune.

He's digging on a rubbish tip near Newport and hoping to find his old computer.

Rupert Evelyn has been to meet him.

An IT worker claims to have accidentally thrown away £4 million in Bitcoins. James Howells told the Guardian he had amassed the fortune in 2009 when the coins were practically worthless, but the online currency has since rocketed in value.

However his virtual wallet containing 7,500 of the online payment 'coins' is now languishing under around four foot of rubbish at the local landfill after he mistakenly threw away the computer hard drive containing it, during a summer clear out.

Read more: Man's forgotten £16 investment 'earns him a fortune'

He told the paper he had been to the tip to find out about retrieving the hardware, which is the only key to getting at his fortune, but was told that as months had passed it was now under several feet of rubbish somewhere in an area the size of a football pitch.

Mr Howells remains unabashed by his mistake and said: "I'm at the point where it's either laugh about it or cry about it. Why aren't I out there with a shovel now? I think I'm just resigned to never being able to find it."

Although he adds that others might still be able to trace the hard drive: "If they were to go out and find it for themselves … it's my mistake throwing the hard drive out, at the end of the day."

Officials at the dump have warned people they will not be given access to search for the buried treasure.