A MAN is desperately trying to get a major bank to honour burned cash after his wife unknowingly cooked a $15,000 stash he had hidden in the oven.

When the Merrylands couple sold their car on the weekend, the husband hid the cash in the oven thinking it would be safe until he could get to a bank on the Monday.

Unfortunately, he forgot to warn his wife who only found the money when she smelled it burning after preheating the oven.

The distraught woman told ninemsn.com.au she "struggled to breathe" when she realised what she had done.

A Westpac spokesman said the bank would do what it could, within the guidelines, to accept the damaged notes.