AKIPRESS.COM - A gold-rush has started at a beach in Kent where a German artist buried £10,000 worth of bullion as part of an arts festival.

Michael Sailstorfer has hidden 30 24-carat gold bars on Folkestone's Outer Harbour beach.

More than 150 people started digging for gold when low tide exposed the beach. Organisers say prospectors can keep any bars they find.

The Folkestone Digs project is part of the town's triennial arts festival.

The event, which takes place every three years and runs from 30 August to 2 November, will also feature work by Yoko Ono.

Lewis Biggs, curator of Folkestone Triennial said: "There are 30 gold bars buried there, along with a lot of washers, so if you bring your metal detector you will find a lot of washers before you find any gold.

"We will never know if the gold has been found or not."

He said it was hoped people digging on the beach would create a work of art by making sand castles at the same time.