Bottles of Eau de Uckfield could hit shop shelves after a voice in a dream told David Pursglove that treasure lay beneath his pear tree.

The dream was so intense that the following morning Mr Pursglove hired a metal detector to help expose what was buried on his farm in Eastbourne Road, Uckfield.

But after several hours, he was nowhere near finding the promised treasure.

He then uprooted the rotten 8ft tree, which had stood in the middle of the garden for more than 100 years.

Far from finding sparkling gems, Mr Pursglove discovered murky water lapping at his ankles.

So he gave up - until he had another vivid dream three nights later.

Interior designer Mr Pursglove, 57, said: "There was a voice asking me whether I had found the treasure.

"I said I hadn't but had found only water and the voice told me that was the treasure."

Fired again with determination, the father-of-four paid £6,500 to hire a geologist and drilling equipment to bore to 115ft where they found water.

Mr Pursglove said: "The geologist said the only water we would find would be the muddy kind.

"He wanted to call it a day but I wanted to carry on. I had a feeling there was something deeper so we just carried on."

They finally hit an underground well containing pure water so rich in minerals experts reckon it is thousands of years old and worth a fortune.

Mr Pursglove said: "When we hit it, there was a huge crashing, thundering noise. It was quite unbelievable. I knew then that I had found the treasure.

"We had the water tested and it contains 16 different minerals. I have bought bottles of water and I haven't found one with a higher mineral content."

Retail giants Boots and Virgin have now expressed an interest in bottling the water as a health tonic called LeXiRi, meaning bottles could soon be filling shop shelves.

Mr Pursglove said: "It is a dream which has turned into a reality, a real wonder water."