Road workers resurfacing a major road in Appleby unearthed the remains of a Romanic burial ground and road on Tuesday.

The grave site covered a full carriageways width and extended to 100ft in length along the A66 in Kirkby Thore near Appleby, a motorway understood to be nearly 2000 years old.

Located one foot underneath the roads surface were fragments of pottery, believed to be 4 AD Samian Wares, timber, coffin nails and bones.

Additional archaeologists also had to be recruited, with the site being larger than anticipated and diverting a mains water line.

Neil Sterio, for Highways England, said: "We still have more sections to uncover and are keeping archaeologists on hand to help.

"The discovery was expected, but the types and higher volumes did surprise us."

"We had to call in ten archaeologists to the site and rework our schedule for the further unexplored sites."

The ancient remains have since been reburied and resurfacing recommenced, with work expected to be complete by 22nd of October.

Legislation introduced in 2008 prohibits archaeologists from studying any human remains found in England and Wales for longer than two years, with the Burial Act 1857 pertaining to finds more recent.

Cumbria was considered an important strategic position against the Gaeilik warriors beyond Hadrian's wall, with Roman funeral practices involving burying the dead outside of a city's walls in religious boundaries known as 'Pomerium'. Over the last 50 years there have been 68 similar sites discovered, including the North of England's largest Roman cemetery in Brougham.