THE Staffordshire Hoard could have been "blasted" away by crews building the M6 Toll road if the Government had chosen one of the other proposed routes for the motorway.

This was one of many fascinating snippets of information about the Anglo-Saxon treasure revealed at an exclusive talk last night.

It was organised for 100 lucky Sentinel readers and their guests and was held at Hanley's Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, where 118 of the gold pieces are currently being exhibited.

City archaeologist Deb Klemperer, pictured below, said the field where the treasure was found last summer had narrowly escaped being swallowed up by the motorway several years ago.

She said: "One of the other routes would have completely blasted this site."

The audience heard how the Mercian spoils of war, which date back more than 1,300 years, were likely to have originally been buried in small bags. But the stash was scattered across 150ft of land by a farm plough in the relatively recent past.

Mrs Klemperer, the history collections officer at the museum, said: "One of the pieces lay on the surface of the ground for eight months, just lying there in the sunshine and the rain, before it was discovered."

Last night's event came on the busiest day yet at the exhibition. Yesterday alone, more than 2,700 people saw the display. To date, visitor figures have topped 22,300.

The campaign to raise £3.3 million to keep the Hoard in the Midlands is also nearing its first £1 million. At least £821,000 has been donated so far – including more than £77,000 by people visiting the Potteries Museum.

Mrs Klemperer said: "This is an international treasure. We have had about six approaches from big American institutions, who would like to borrow this material."

Guests at last night's event were bowled over by the treasure. Tickets had been given to the first 100 Sentinel readers to phone a special hotline.

Kevin Sherwin, aged 53, from Werrington, said: "The fine detail on the pieces is really good. You need it magnified four times to actually see all that detail."

Sue Brown, from Cheadle, said: "The wonderful colours and the way the light shines on the pieces is magnificent."

Kirsty Henderson, aged 23, from Clayton, was also impressed. She said: "I wanted to see it because it's so significant."