A HAUL of $1.5m of jewellery, Joy Division master tapes - and even a gun - were allegedly discovered at the site of Jamie Oliver's new restaurant.

They were found in hundreds of safe deposit boxes - some of them dating back to 1935 - in the vault of the old bank site, which the celebrity chef has converted into a restaurant.

Jewellery, gold, master tapes from the bands Joy Division and New Order were allegedly found in the boxes - with one even containing a firearm, it has been reported.

According to The Sun, a source said: "There were all sorts in the boxes - even a gun in one."

HSBC bank, the former occupant of the building, said it could not confirm exactly what was in the boxes due to customer confidentiality.

A spokesman said: "Even if I knew exactly what was in those boxes I would not be able to comment on that for reasons of confidentiality.

"We cannot reveal the precise contents, but these are safe deposit boxes - there are bound to be valuables in there.



"If we did find anything illegal in there we would be required to notify police."

A spokesman for Jamie Oliver said: "The haul was actually removed before we moved in."

The restaurant site, in Manchester, was an old Midland bank - which merged with HSBC in 1992.

The Grade II listed building - known locally as the King of King Street - was designed by Edwin Lutyens in 1928.

When HSBC moved to a new site in 2008 they had to transfer the contents of the boxes - it was then that the so-called haul was discovered.



A spokesman for HSBC added: "We were moving to a new site and wanted to transfer the safe deposit boxes.

"However [because the building is a Grade II listed building] National Heritage said we were unable to take the actual boxes with us, because they were part of the structure.

"At no point were drills used to break them open - we just used the keys we had.

"The owners would have been contacted and the contents transferred to secure storage at the new site."

Jamie Oliver's team acquired the property in 2010 and started work on the site in March 2011.

Read more at Mail Online

Originally published as Treasure found at site of Jamie eatery