A DUSTY shield once used as a bin for sweet wrappers by schoolboys has been unearthed as a hidden treasure.

Staff at Deane School were amazed when they discovered an unwanted school trophy, which had lain for more then 30 years under a teacher's bed, could be worth thousands of pounds.

The Stanley Shield was a Bolton inter-school football trophy last played for before the 1960s.

The large copper shield in an oak frame had ended up at Whitebank School where everyone failed to recognise its significance.

"The upturned shield was in the prefects' room and they used to throw their toffee wrappers into it," said Deane School teacher Fred Tyldesley, who began his career at the Whitebank School in 1964.

A worse fate almost befell the shield when the school closed in 1964 and staff began packing up to move to the new Deane School.

When Fred asked the headmaster what he should do with it he was told it should be put in a skip.

Luckily Fred decided to take it home instead until a new use could be found for it.

"For 30 years it has been stored away under my bed," said Fred.

Several weeks ago Fred remembered the trophy and, together with fellow teacher Martin Duckworth, they began trying to find out more about its history.

The shield was made in 1866 by Birmingham firm Elkington and company and designed by acclaimed French artist Leonard Morel-Ladeuil, who came to England in the 1850s.

It is thought the Stanley Shield was originally electroplated in silver but years of cleaning has worn it away.

But Martin and Fred were even more amazed when a search of the Internet revealed that a similar shield by Morel-Ladeuil sold four years ago for several thousand pounds.

The shield has now been gently cleaned and the frame French polished. "It really is in excellent condition," said Fred.

People can see the shield on show, together with old year books from Whitebank School picturing the football team with the trophy, at Deane School's open evening tomorrow.

Fred would particularly like to hear from anyone with any more information about the shield's history.

The shield is so valuable that it will then be taken out of the school and stored in a safe place until a decision can be made about its future.

"It is definitely not going back under the bed!" said Fred.