To ensure its safety during the second world war, the buffalo was wrapped in newspaper, put into a wooden box marked "porcelain" and deposited in a bank vault.

The buffalo had lain in a bank vault since the Battle of Britain in 1940 and was still wrapped in wartime newspaper when Mr Axford saw it for the first time.

A collection of gems which lay forgotten in a bank vault for 30 years has been unearthed, leaving people's eyes wide open.