Granny shreds million-euro fortune 'to stop her heirs getting it'

A grandmother who it's been reported didn't want any of her financial fortune to go to her family heirs cut all of her money up instead.

The unnamed 85-year-old, who recently passed away in a nursing home, left all of her savings , of £715,000 - just shy of €1 million - behind.

But when her room was cleared, the €950,000 in notes, as well as a variety of savings accounts books with six-figure sums, were found destroyed in the Austrian's bed.

State prosecutor Erich Habitzl confirmed the money had been found and said nothing could be done for the relatives, according to Kurier .

"The damage of the money in the woman's property is not a criminal matter, so we have not begun any investigation," Habitzl told AFP.

Kurier reported however that central bank OeNB says it will replace all the cash.

Friedrich Hammerschmidt of the bank said: "If the heirs can only find shreds of money and if the origin of the money is assured, then of course it can all be replaced.

"If we didn't pay out the money then we would be punishing the wrong people."