Colchester Roman road find to be destroyed, claims former MP

The Roman road section was found during an excavation at the former Essex County Hospital

A section of Roman road uncovered during an archaeological dig is to be destroyed to make way for new housing, according to a former MP.

It was found at the former Essex County Hospital, at Lexden Road, Colchester, which is being developed by the county council-owned Essex Housing.

Sir Bob Russell said he "cannot believe" a Roman road found in Chester or York would be destroyed.

Essex Housing said "where possible finds are preserved in situ".

But it was unable to confirm if the section of road would be destroyed or preserved.

Colchester has many Roman remains, including this 50m (165ft) wall section, which the borough council bought in 2020

Colchester, which claims to be Britain's oldest recorded town, is rich in Roman heritage.

Sir Bob, who was Liberal Democrat MP for the town from 1997 to 2015 and now has the honorary title of High Steward of Colchester Borough, said: "It should not be left to a whistleblower to contact me to tell me what is going on and for me to then make it public."

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He asked the county council to follow the example of Colchester Borough Council, which halted development when the foundations of the Roman theatre in Maidenburgh Street were discovered 40 years ago.

New housing was also kept away from Abbey Field after a Roman chariot circus was revealed 17 years ago, he said.

An Essex Housing spokesman said the remains of the road "was one discovery made as part of our experts' careful archaeological excavations".

He added: "Some of the key finds from the first phase of archaeology can be viewed in the exhibition at the Roman Circus Centre, which has been in place for over a year.

"Where possible finds are preserved in situ; however, when this phase of archaeology concludes, we will be updating the exhibition to display some of the smaller finds."