Druid calls for reburial of Stonehenge human remains

King Arthur Pendragon failed to get the bones re-interred after a High Court battle

A senior druid has launched a campaign calling for human remains dug up at Stonehenge to be reburied.

Archaeologist Mike Parker-Pearson unearthed the cremated remains in 2008 and since then has held a licence to keep them for scientific research.

But according to senior druid King Arthur Pendragon that permission expired at midnight on Saturday.

The druid failed to get the remains re-interred after a lengthy legal battle.

He said: "All they are is cremated human remains, they're little shards of burnt bones, I saw them when they took them out in 2008.

"There is absolutely no reason to put them on show - they could make copies and put them on show."

The cremated remains of more than 40 bodies, thought to be at least 5,000 years old, were removed from the burial site at the ancient stone circle in Wiltshire in 2008.

At the time, archaeologists described the finds as very small, damaged bone fragments.

In 2011, Mr Pendragon lost a High Court bid to have the bones reburied.

Two years later, permission to take the case to a full judicial review was also refused but he vowed to fight on.

Ministers gave permission to allow the bones to be examined at Sheffield University until 2015.

The campaign will be launched outside Salisbury Museum later.