Archaeologists have discovered a Roman cemetery on a building site.

During a routine inspection, they discovered 18 cremation urns, most in perfect condition, yards from the Thomas A Becket crossroads in Offington Lane, Worthing.

Project manager Neil Griffin said the unexpected find had caused considerable excitement.

He said it was rare to find vessels dating back to at least 200AD in such fine condition.

Mr Griffin, of Ditchling-based Archaeology South-East, hopes the urns, thought to contain a family group of five people alongside offerings of food and wine to the gods, will be presented to Worthing Museum.

The archaeologists were called in to inspect the site prior to the demolition of two large detached properties to make way for 19 flats and houses.

Mr Griffin said: "We were commissioned by the developers, Taylor Woodrow, to undertake an archaeological investigation, which is fairly routine.

"We had no idea anything was there and dug six trenches, a total length of about 60 metres, and found some early Roman cremations in pottery vessels.

"They were in five groups, each of between three and six vessels, making 18 vessels in total.

"They were pretty much intact, in a close cluster. Several had been flattened slightly by the pressure of the ground over almost 2,000 years. It is rare to find vessels so well preserved.

"It is quite a discovery, certainly the most interesting archaeological find to come out of Worthing for some time."

Mr Griffin said they also found badly degraded traces of iron and possibly copper alloy which might have been a Roman brooch.

He believes there may be remains of a Roman farm or settlement nearby but no trace of it has been recorded.

The finds will now be X-rayed before archaeologists begin a micro-investigation of the urns' contents to shed further light on Worthing's Roman past.

They will then be presented to the museum in Chapel Road, which is itself constructed on the site of a Roman settlement.

When the museum was being built, just over a century ago, workmen found a cremation urn and mosaic tiles called tesserae.

Other Roman remains have been found over the years near Chesswood Road/Ladydell Road, Mill Road/Grand Avenue, Northbrook College, off Littlehampton Road, and the Rotary Ground, off Upper Brighton Road.

A Roman bath house was discovered on Highdown Hill, along with Anglo-Saxon burials, and gold coins in countryside near Patching, north-west of Worthing.