Workmen have made a potentially internationally significant discovery.

A resident contacted Wychavon archaeology advisor Aidan Smyth to tell him that workmen had dug up what appeared to be a Roman road near Evesham.

Following a review of the site, Mr Smyth has identified it as a possible ford.

Excavations have since taken place and currently, all signs point to it being a Roman structure that could be up to 1,900 years old.

Mr Smyth said: "At the moment everything is ticking the boxes for it to be Roman, but it still feels too good to be true, so we are keeping an open mind.

“It may be that we have to bury it undated, but I hope not.”

Evesham Journal:

The road is said to be constructed like a wall with large stones laid in bands, a well-known Roman building technique.

It is also 2.95 metres wide, which is said to be the standard width of a single-track Roman road.

Wychavon District Council has also confirmed that as of yet, no dateable finds such as pieces of pottery or coins have been discovered.

Usually, these would be used to help date the site.

Instead, a section dug from the road is to be sent off for optically stimulated luminescence testing which will measure the last time the sediment was exposed to sunlight.

The council has warned that this process could take several months.

In the meantime, the site may be reburied to protect it from deteriorating.

Mr Smyth added: "If it turns out to be medieval then it could still be considered to be nationally significant as nothing similar has been found in Britain to date.

“If it is a 1st century Roman structure, with its only known comparisons in Rome and Pompeii, then it is not only the only one of its kind in Britain to date making it nationally important, but you could also argue it is of international significance as we would gain more information on the feature through analysis of similar structures found in Italy."

Historic England are also being kept updated, with Wychavon hopeful they will mark the find as an ancient monument to protect it from future development.