SCHOOLCHILDREN have the chance to leave their classrooms to learn about history in the open air.

Primary schools in Hartlepool are invited to book up for two-hour sessions at the town's Summerhill park where the annual month-long Tees Archaeology dig has just started.

School parties will have the change to speak to the archaeologists, watch them at work and take part in the dig.

Summerhill has previously been the scene of significant archaeological finds relating to the area's Romano/British period.

Jenny Phillips, landscape interpretation officer at the 100-acre site off Catcote Road, said: "We have offered similar opportunities to schools in previous years and there has always been a good response. This initiative fits in well with schools' studies regarding the Romans in Britain."

Any school that is interested should contact the Summerhill Visitor Centre on (01429) 284584.

Last year archaeologists uncovered pieces of pottery, bones and the remains of a stone structure that is thought to have been a building.

The public can find out more when the Archaeology Open Day is held on Sunday, June 20, from 11am to 4pm.