Alex Vincent's interest in digging up the past began in 1974 when he was 19 years old.

Now, 26 years on, he has made his own contribution to unearthing ancient history by writing a book on Roman roads in Sussex.

Mr Vincent's book has been a labour of love, written and carefully researched in his spare time during the past two years.

The result is Roman Roads of Sussex, which is likely to appeal particularly to ramblers and historians.

Mr Vincent, 45, of Shelley Road, Worthing, said: "I've always been into archaeology and I thought not much had been done on Roman roads so I wrote the book because it was some- thing different."

The 96-page book, published on July 8, gives details of 20 walks across the county, including routes from Chichester to Brighton and Pevensey to Glynde.

The London to Lewes Way, as it was known to the Romans, runs for 44 miles and was built to serve iron workings in the Weald.

Even longer is the 56-mile London to Chichester road, known as Stane Street, where part of the A24 now runs.

The roads, built in 70AD-150AD were made of whatever materials were nearby, including chalk, clay, flint and sandstone.

Mr Vincent said: "To write the book I looked at maps and went to lots of libraries. I know there are 20 Roman roads in Sussex and a few more suspected ones.

"It is a bit of a myth that if the Romans came to a hill while building a road they would go straight over.

"Often they would build zig-zags to make the going a bit more manageable. I've been interested in archaeology since I was 19. I remember seeing a programme on digging up various artifacts and that started it off."

The book, published by Middleton Press, is the second work by Mr Vincent. In 1994 he self-published a booklet on solar eclipses.