4,600 tonnes of gold kept hidden in UK bank's secret vaults

LONDON: With 197 billion pounds worth of gold stacked floor to ceiling, the Bank of England's high security vault is one of the most valuable rooms on Earth, British media reported today.

Rare footage of the Bank of England's huge underground stash - brimming with 4,600 tonnes of 'forgotten gold' - was widely published in the media.

But the Bank's precious metal reserves - each shelf worth 35 million pounds each - have been filmed by the University of Nottingham for a new series about elements called 'The Periodic Table of Videos'.

Britain currently has 310 tonnes of gold in its reserves, but there is more than 4,600 tonnes in the vault because many other people use it for safe keeping, Daily Mirror reported.

Each highly-guarded bar of gold has its own number, like a car registration, meaning when it is traded the buyers don't physically get to take it home.

Instead, the identification number is just transferred to their account, meaning some of the bars have been in the vault for nearly 100 years.