A blundering caretaker gave away a £5million antique because he thought it was rotten and destined for the bonfire.
Brian Wilson was sacked from his job at a 16th century manor house after he let a car salesman walk off with the 460-year-old decorative piece bearing the royal coat of arms of Queen Elizabeth I.
He thought the oak overmantel was riddled with wood worm and dry rot and told a tribunal he thought giving it away would save him burning it.
