Roman pottery has been unearthed by archaeologists working on a new housing development in Kendal.

Plans to build 88 new homes on Brigsteer Road were given the green light by the South Lakeland District Council's planning committee last year.

All of the committee in attendance bar one - an abstention - voted in favour of the development off Brigsteer Road, just outside the border of the Lake District National Park. The site is to include 18 affordable homes.

Roman deposits have been found at the site so far but more work is due to go ahead to try and date the earthwork structure.

A spokesman for the archaeological team at Cumbria County Council said: "The developer has undertaken geophysical survey across the site, and commissioned evaluation by trial trenching, which was undertaken last year.

"It was known that there was an earthwork enclosure on the site, but the archaeological evaluation failed to determine the date of this feature.

"Four sherds of Roman period pottery were recovered during this work, but these were not from sealed deposits and did not unequivocally date the site.

"It is therefore still not certain if the enclosure is a Roman period feature, such as a small native farmstead, or an agricultural stock enclosure from more recent times.

"We would not wish to be drawn on which without further information. Either is possible.

"A final phase of excavation work is due to take place in this area, to try and determine the date of the enclosure, and to identify any further features that may indicate what the site was used for."