A mock treasure hunt turned into a real-life gold rush after youngsters discovered a hoard of coins.

The children at the Benger Bears Pre-School in Sutton Benger scoured the village recreational ground with a metal detector on Monday.

Supervisor Jane Crook, said that the children were very excited to find the turn-of-the-century coins.

"We were only going out for half an hour and never expected to find anything, let alone a stash of coins." she said.

"We are going to contact the museum and find out exactly when the coins date back to and then we can decide what to do with them.

"The kids can't wait to go back out and see how many more items they can find."

Experts believe that the coins date back to the reign of King George V and the earliest coin is dated 1912.

Beverly Hoff at the Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre said: "It must be so exciting for the children to see how things get lost and found.

"For them it must seem like a lifetime ago.

"We have quite a few people coming and showing us artefacts they have found.

"It is usually coins and pottery and it is very satisfying for them to be able to trace the heritage of the items."

The children found seven coins dating back to the turn of the century and one silver sixpence from 1936.

They are hoping to uncover more treasures.