A homeowner got the surprise of a lifetime when he discovered a gold mine in his back garden.

Anthony Doolin bought the property, in Brisbane, Australia, over three years ago for $1.35million (£754,000).

But it wasn't until he went wandering around his 16.5 hectares of land that he made the startling find.

And it turns out the estate, which is just 12 miles from the central business district of Brisbane, is home to number of other mines.

They had remained hidden in the hills since the turn of the century - until now.

A surprised Mr Doolin revealed he immediately thought of movie character Indiana Jones when he stumbled upon the mines.

He told realestate.com.au, "We weren’t told about it, we just found it there one day. I nearly fell over, I just pictured Indiana Jones and underground railroads.”

"There was a lot of mining at the turn of the century and in those hills there are quite a few little mines. It’s about six metres deep and is still intact.” Despite the spectacular discovery, Mr Doolin didn't explore the mines further in search of precious gold.

And he parted ways with the stunning estate last week. His mother Jane sold the property for him. The reported asking price of $1.65million (£922,000) was not met and the Mr Doolin eventually settled for the same fee he had initially paid for it.