Adams Bundles of decaying Second World War bank notes stashed away in case of Nazi invasion have been discovered under the floorboards of an old clothes store.
Shopfitters found the cash on the site of what was once Bradley Gowns now a Cotswold Outdoor store in Brighton.
The hoard of £1 and £5 notes adds up to about £30,000, which is the equivalent of more than £1m today.
Bradley Gowns – which had a flagship store in Chepstow Place, London had a number of famous clientele, including members of the royal family and Winston Churchill.
All of the money was covered in dirt and debris when it was pulled from beneath the floorboards and is now in the possession of Sussex Police for safekeeping.
Howard Bradley – the sole surviving heir of the family that ran the chain of shops – told The Brighton Argus he believed it had been hidden in case the forces of Adolf Hitler mounted a successful campaign on British soil.
After Dunkirk it was looking pretty bleak, he told the local newspaper.
People on the continent were buying their way out – out of Austria, out of France. They might have worried they’d have to buy their way out, maybe it was part of a getaway plan.
While the Brighton store survived the war, Nazi bombing raids meant that some of the company buildings – including a hat-making facility in the capital were destroyed.
The family firm lives on today as Bradley’s Quality Dry Cleaning, which is run by Mr Bradley in Milton Keynes.