There's gold in them thar heels

Nugget in trainers

An office worker has quit his job to dig for gold in Australia after finding a nugget stuck to his TRAINERS on holiday.

Terry Wilson, 52, decided immediately to sell up and emigrate with wife, Marion, 64.

He said "I knew there and then it was the life for me - searching for my fortune in the great outdoors."

Terry found the gold AND more than 100 sapphires worth about £500 when the couple, from Settle, North Yorks, visited relatives in Victoria.

He said, "I'd been walking in the Snowy Mountains all day and put my feet up for a second to have a rest. I saw a nugget the size of a finger-nail in ther sole of my trainer. I hunted in the dirt and found the sapphires."

"It was a dream come true - better than winning the Lottery."

Terry and Marion have lived in Yorkshire all their lives. But now they have sold their three-bedroom house and Terry has left his job as council personnel officer where he has worked for 20 years.

The couple who have no children move next month.

Terry has bought a £9 licence allowing him to be a gold prospector for two years. He said, "I don't know if I'll make a living - but I sure as hell will try."