AN extremely rare Viking treasure that was almost discarded as modern rubbish by the binman who found it has gone on display at Kendal Museum.

The small bronze `grimacing face', believed to be a piece of 8th century Viking loot, was originally ditched by 39-year-old Arnside binman and detection enthusiast David James because he thought it was nothing more than a fancy purse clip.

"At the time I thought: `Oh it's nothing'.

I didn't believe there would be something thousands of years old here.

I threw it away in the bushes but something stopped me and it took me an hour to find it again," said Mr James, who lives at home with his parents in Queen's Drive, Arnside.

He happened upon the ancient relic - that has been described by Kendal Museum curator Morag Clement as "one of the most exciting finds" to come into its collection - when he was out walking with his Treasure Ace 100 metal detector at Newbarns Farm, Arnside.

An eye for the lie of the land took him to an arching line of trees marking the old shore line of the coastal area when the bleep of his detector led him to uncover the fragment that was buried under a couple of inches of soil.

The discovery took place in 1999 but Mr James put the find in a draw until curiosity got the better of him and he gave it to friend and fellow metal-detectorist Joyce Wilson of Milnthorpe.

In what proved to be a fortuitous move, Ms Wilson took it down to the Lancaster Metal Detector Club where it caught the eye of club president and Liverpool Museum antiquities specialist Nick Herepath.

Mr Herepath called on the expertise of Dr Susan Youngs of the British Museum, who identified it as a piece of an Irish Bronze

bowl mount that would have been an exotic import from lands invaded by Scandinavian kings.

It is only the second one to be discovered in Britain - the first was at York.

Aside from those, the only other similar mounts have been found in Viking graves in western Norway.

The style of the face and use of enamel is a feature of 8th century Irish metal work and these pieces would have travelled with Vikings as loot or goods to be traded.

How such a piece came to rest in Arnside is a mystery.

Visitors to Kendal Museum can now marvel at the unexpected find as, after up to 1,200 years under sod and months of careful restoration work, the piece is today behind glass alongside other local Viking artefacts including a sword discovered at Kendal's Cunswick Scar.

Although Viking occupation of the Lakes is clear through place names like `thwaites', ` ghylls' and `becks', local artefacts from the era are actually very rare.

"At only three centimetres high, he may be small but he is one of the most exciting finds that has come to Kendal Museum," said Mrs Clement.

Mr James was paid £500 for the piece, which he has split with farmer Robert Barber who as the landowner of the find-site technically owns it.

Since the bowl-mount was confirmed as an ancient artefact, Mr James returned to Newbarns Farm and managed to unearth a cloak pin, which is currently being assessed by the museum.

The discoveries broke something of a find-famine for Mr James, whose most exciting discovery up to now, after seven years of detecting, was a half-crown piece.

"I'm absolutely over the moon," he said.

"You get it into your head that you will find something some day and low and behold one day it happens!"

l Ms Clement encouraged anyone finding interesting artefacts to contact the museum.

She stressed that museums do not have a legal right to seize discoveries but wanted to be informed in order to record finds for historical purposes.