Hopes are raised on home for the Hoard

Hopes of bringing the Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure back to its home county have been given a boost after the British Museum said it would not try to buy it.

The 1,662 pieces of gold and silver will go on display at the London museum from tomorrow after previously being on display in Birmingham where more than 60,000 people queued around the block to see it. The Hoard was discovered on land near Brownhills by 55-year-old Burntwood metal detectorist Terry Herbert in July.

He was searching in a field owned by farmer Fred Johnson who had previously tried to persuade Mr Herbert to look elsewhere.

Both men now stand to become millionaires from the find.

Staffordshire County Council, along with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Birmingham City Council, have said they want to see the Hoard brought back to the area and have launched appeals to try to secure the future of the treasure.

The temporary exhibition at the British Museum will run until the New Year.

Hannah Boulton, spokeswoman for the British Museum, said: "The British Museum is not interested in acquiring the Hoard. We are very much supporting the joint acquisition by Birmingham and Staffordshire.

"Once the valuation is made, there is no suggestion that it will go anywhere other than those two places.

"But they will have to raise the funds in order to match that valuation."

The Staffordshire Hoard is thought to date back to the 7th century and the ancient kingdom of Mercia. It includes examples of the Staffordshire Knot hundreds of years before it was thought first-used.