Archaeologists made a macabre discovery while unearthing artefacts at the site of a former hotel in Canterbury.

Several Roman or Saxon skeletons were found in a ditch during the dig at the old Slatters Hotel in St Margaret's Street.

The Canterbury Archaeological Trust had been carrying out excavations ahead of the development of a new hotel on the site.

Project manager Alison Hicks said: "We were not expecting it because it's not a recorded burial ground, but you never know what you are going to find when you start a dig like this."

The bones were examined in situ before being carefully removed for future study.

"We have to get an exhumation licence from the government because they can't stay there as they are, within the footprint of the new development, "

"But we hope that by studying them we can discover their gender, what sort of age they were, perhaps something about how they died, and other information about their lives, which will be useful to record."

The 13-strong team's work has just come to an end after eight months digging. Vital layers of Canterbury's past have been uncovered, from Roman through to Saxon and medieval times and the late 19th century.

Dr Hicks says it has proved a rare opportunity to investigate an area which had not been previously examined.

"It's been very exciting. We knew that the Roman theatre was there but not what was going on around it.

"We have found an amazing amount of pottery which will help us date all of these things really accurately and put a historical sequence together.

"There wasn't anything individually of great value, like jewellery, but we were very excited to find a Roman underfloor heating system of the kind we have not seen in Canterbury before, as we as medieval ovens and Saxon huts and cellars."

The archaeologists dug down to around 3.5 metres. The thousands of pieces and fragments they uncovered, including a piece of medieval stone with a face carved on it, will now be cleaned, examined and recorded in an undertaking which will take many months more.

The conclusion of archaeological excavations at the former Slatters site has paved the way for work to start on the new hotel.

And the Gazette can reveal that it will be run by a household name catering for the “upper midrange” market.

The first phase of the project is nearing completion, including the demolition of the old hotel and the restoration of the adjoining listed building frontages, which had fallen into long-term disrepair.

Next month, a contractor is expected to be appointed for the build, which is likely to take up to 18 months and result in a striking-looking building, designed by architect Guy Hollaway, with 130 bedrooms and a rooftop restaurant.

The businessmen behind the scheme are the co-directors of the Slatters Developments Ltd, Zaw Htut and Michael Wood.

“We have been very busy while the dig has been going on with demolishing the old Slatters and doing the other restoration work,” said Mr Htut.

“But now it’s all systems go on the main build and we are at the point of signing an agreement with a contractor, as well as with the hotel brand, but I cannot reveal either at the moment until the contracts are concluded.

“All I can say is that it will be a well-known name and operator which will pitch at the upper midrange market.

“It has always been an aspiration of ours and the city council that it will offer affordable accommodation, of which there is a shortage in the city centre.

“The city council remains the freeholder of the site but we will own the hotel, which will be franchised to the operator.”