By Holly Robinson

EXPERTS who have uncovered a major archaeological site at a west Wiltshire school have urged the community to help protect the find from treasure hunters.

Investigations at St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon have revealed what are believed to be the remains of two Roman villas, mirror images of each other.

The initial discovery was made by Bradford architect Martin Valatin, who decided to investigate markings revealed in the ground by the hot weather last summer.

Dr Mark Corney, of Bristol University, said it was not surprising to find there had been a Roman settlement in Bradford on Avon, but the scale of the discovery had been unexpected.

He said: "This is the hinterland of Roman Bath and we were almost certain there ought to be a major Roman villa site in the Bradford vicinity."

People living near the school have often reported finding pottery or coins in their gardens and a Roman bath-house was discovered in the grounds of the school in 1976, but until now the site of the main house had not been known.

Teams from the university have already carried out surveys of the school site using geophysics equipment and looking at the magnetic variations in the ground.

Dr Corney said: "After two days of surveys we had results beyond our wildest dreams. The results we got, though relatively raw data, showed a classic Romano-British villa plan."

He ruled out the possibility of a full archaeological dig at the school until further research has been completed.

The next step will include a survey of what people have found in their gardens, which would help identify the distribution of material from the Roman site and give an idea of its character.

Being on a school site and in a designated green belt area, the find is protected from the pressures associated with development sites but there are still other threats.

Dr Corney said: "It is in a very fortunate position, whether by fluke or some other accident of history, but metal detectors can be a threat on sites like this, especially the irresponsible people or night hawks who take a site apart quite literally, as has happened in Britain in recent years.

"There is a responsibility on the school, the local authority and on local residents to keep an eye on this place."

He said people should contact the authorities and the police if they see anyone suspicious on the site.

St Laurence School headteacher Nicholas Sorensen said: "I have been aware from the moment I stepped into the building that this is a significant school, but to find out it is really historically significant is just wonderfully exciting."

The new find is just one of 80,000 archaeological sites listed in the county.