A TANK fanatic got a new model in a £30,000 trade-in — and found more than £2million of gold bullion hidden in the fuel tank.

Nick Mead, 55, discovered the five gold bars in the Russian T54/69 while restoring it to add to his collection of 150 military vehicles.

5 Nick Mead, left was shocked to discover a gold bullion worth £2million in the fuel tank of a tank he was restoring Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

He and mechanic Todd Chamberlain were filming themselves prising open the diesel tank in case they found munitions and needed to show it to bomb disposal crews.

Instead, they pulled out the bars, weighing up to 12lb — 5kg — apiece.

Todd, 50, said a quick calculation suggested they were worth in excess of £2million.

5 Together with mechanic Todd Chamberlain, right, the 55-year-old collector filmed the prising open the diesel tank in case it contained munitions Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

He added: “We didn’t know what to do. You can’t exactly take five gold bullion bars down to Cash Converters without questions being asked, so we called the police.”

Nick runs Tanks-a-Lot, giving petrolheads the chance to drive any of his tanks on his farm in Helmdon, Northants.

5 But rather than weaponry, the pair were shocked to uncover five gold bars Credit: Alamy

He traded in an Army lorry and an Abbot self-propelled gun for the T54/69 in a deal worth about £30,000 after seeing it advertised on eBay.

Todd and Nick had already found machine gun ammunition while stripping down the tank and were worried they would find guns.

5 The tank restorers believe the gold was looted by Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait during the Gulf War Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

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Instead, they discovered the gold, which they believe was looted by Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait during the Gulf War.

The tank was later captured and shipped to Britain.

Nick said: “They must have cut a hole in the fuel tank and rammed it full of gold bars.”

After calling police, two officers took away the bars and gave them a receipt.

5 Nick was restoring the Russian T54/69 to add to his collection of 150 military vehicles Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

The military buffs have stored it in a safety deposit box in London. Nick said: “Even if I don’t get any of the gold back I will still have my beautiful tank.”

A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said they could not comment “for operational reasons”.