A bookseller from Rottingdean claims to have uncovered the secrets of a legendary lost city.

Self-styled codebreaker Robert Langdon says Stonehenge was actually built by the citizens of Atlantis, believed submerged under the sea thousands of years ago.

Yesterday the 55-year-old published a book called The Stonehenge Enigma, which has already caused a stir among academics and conspiracy theorists around the world.

In it, he claims the monument’s builders left a 6,000-year-oldmap of a world flooded by rising sea waters.

The retired telecoms analyst, who describes himself as a combination of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Indiana Jones, said it would be “difficult to disprove” his controversial theory.

He said: “I love prehistory – I think it should be called pre-mystery. In my mind, it’s the greatest ever whodunnit.

“I have 40 pieces of evidence that proves the Atlanteans built Stonehenge as a monument to their lost dead.

“I’ve clashed with academics over this because I refuse to accept certain long-held beliefs which are simply not proven.

“All I hope is that they take another look.”

'Tantalising clues'

Mr Langdon believes two special stones in Stonehenge point directly to Atlantis, which he says lies under the North Sea in a place archaeologists call Doggerland.

Among other clues, he believes the site was once an island populated by an ancient nautical race, citizens of the lost city.

Mr Langon said academic reaction to his theories had been “mixed” but said his findings were well-researched and backed up with “concrete evidence”.

He said: “I don’t see the common sense in some of the accepted beliefs about Stonehenge. If they can’t be proved, they should be challenged. And there is so much still to find out.

“Agatha Christie or even Dan Brown would have been proud of leaving so many tantalising clues about what happened so long ago.”

To see an exhibition of Mr Langdon’s findings, including maps of Atlantis and the original diagrams of the Stonehenge temple, visit his Ology bookshop at 12-14 High St, Rottingdean.

For more information visit robertjohnlangdon.blogspot.co.uk.