Metal-detector enthusiast to get €500k for gold find

A FIRST-TIME metal-detecting enthusiast who discovered a hoard of Iron Age gold in a field could be in for a £460,000 (€526,641) windfall, officials confirmed yesterday.

Safari park keeper David Booth, 35, had owned his metal detector for five days when he discovered four 2,000-year-old gold neckbands in a Stirlingshire field last year.

Dating from between the 1st and 3rd century BC, the bands – known as torcs – represent the most important hoard of Iron Age gold in Scotland. They were buried six inches beneath the surface.