Antiques dealer to dig for loot buried in 'past life'

An American businessman who is convinced that in a past life he buried some treasure in a park in Swansea has been given permission by the local council to search for it.

An American businessman who is convinced that in a past life he buried some treasure in a park in Swansea has been given permission by the local council to search for it.

During regression therapy, Jim Bethany, an antiques dealer from New York, discovered he had once been a British soldier called John Seaman who died at the battle of Waterloo.

Mr Bethany, 58, believes that in his previous incarnation he buried silver coins and jewellery in what is now Singleton Park and he wants it back.

Officials, who have given permission for him to explore the four metre square plot, have agreed to lend him an excavator to facilitate his search.

Malcolm Ridge, the chairman of the Gower Society local history group, said: "Mr Bethany approached us about eight years ago claiming that he lived and married someone in Gower. He says he found treasure while fighting in India, brought it back to Gower and buried it, with the aim of retrieving it later, but got shot."

The council refuses to say where in the park the dig will take place. A spokeswoman said: "The site will be reinstated once the dig has concluded. We do not want to attract treasure-hunters who might start digging indiscriminately."