Police escort for £10,000 Christmas cracker

The unique cracker, which contains five 22 carat gold sovereigns, was unveiled yesterday by its makers – the National Mint in Cardiff.

It's considered so valuable that it is being guarded by the police, with Ministry of Defence Pc Matt Tayler being among the first on duty.

Although it only went on sale at lunchtime, the cracker's rarity and value are such that Mint officials expected it to be snapped up very quickly. Each coin has a monetary value of just 5 but they fetch thousands when sold individually.