A father and son from Sevenoaks struck gold when they found a piece of buried treasure on a beach in Kent.

Philip Cruickshank, 49 and his son, nine-year-old Xander couldn't believe their luck when they discovered the gold bar, described to be the size of a dog tag, amongst the sand.

It is one of 30 gold bars hidden by Berlin-based artist Michael Sailstorfer on Outer Harbour Beach in Folkestone last month.

The collection of gold pieces that are made up of two different sizes - worth around £250 and £500 totalling almost £10,000, were buried by the international artist as part of the town's Triennial.

Hundreds of people have been continuing to visit since excavations began on Thursday, August 28 in the hope that they will find one.

Philip and Xander had been digging for 20 minutes and were only on their second hole when they discovered the bar.

Philip said: "There was quite a lot of people down the beach, we were waiting for the tide to go out before anyone could dig. It was a nice atmosphere, everyone was chatting about the gold bars and seemed pretty excited.

"When the water was out far enough we walked a little bit, Xander stopped and pointed to a spot of sand and said we should start digging there.

"He had only been digging for a little while, he just had his small trowel and I brought my big shovel. I started helping him when he bent down to look at something.

"He's a little tinker at times so I thought he was messing around, but he just pointed and told me to look.

"I couldn't believe it, he'd found one of the gold bars. We both had panda eyes and our jaws dropped, I think we just stared at each other."

Philip, director of Oaks Carpentry and Construction in Otford Road, heard about the gold rush from a friend.

He added: "I didn't even know this was going on, so when my friend called and asked if I'd heard about it I thought what a great thing for me and Xander to do over the weekend.

"When we saw that gold bar glistening in the sand it was such a wonderful feeling, I whipped it in my pocket and we rushed to the car.

"We thought about staying and celebrating on the beach but you don't know who's around.

"Once we got to the car we were screaming, shouting and overjoyed. I've never seen Xander's eyes so wide."

Xander, a St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School pupil, took the bar in to show his headmistress and friends in Tonbridge before taking it to the bank. He plans to buy his mum a present with his new savings.

Phil added: "He was determined to buy his mum a gift and said he would save the rest of the money, it's such a nice memory for him to have and it was a great day for us both.

The gold bar they found on Sunday, September 7 was worth approximately £275.

The installation, entitled “Folkestone Digs”, is funded by Bristol-based designers Situations.

Philip said: "What a great project, we were part of a real life treasure hunt and we certainly won't be forgetting it any time soon."

Have you found any of the gold? E-mail us at multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk and tell us your story.