French officials perplexed by gold bars and coins found stashed in old house

Mayor of Morez in the Jura says find of five gold bars and 1,000 gold coins valued at 600,000 has made us smile'

The surprise discovery of three jam jars filled with gold bars and hundreds of gold coins in an old building marked for renovation has left a mountain community in eastern France perplexed and celebrating.

The mayor of Morez, a small industrial town in a picturesque valley in the Jura, said the value of the find was more than 600,000 (520,700). Town hall staff first found three jam jars of gold bars and coins worth 500,000 at the back of a dusty shelf, then opened a safe hidden behind boxes in a wardrobe to find up to 150,000 in gold coins.