A TEAM of student archaeologists will be hoping to unearth some hidden secrets of the past during a series of digs taking place later this month.

The team from Darlington College of Technology will be racing against time to uncover long-lost artefacts buried beneath the soil at the college campuses in Darlington and Catterick.

Led by award-winning archaeologist Margaret Manchester, the team will have only a day at each site to discover if anything lies just beneath their feet.

The event, organised to coincide with the Time Team Big Dig, takes place over the weekend of June 28 and 29.

Billed as Britain's biggest-ever archaeological dig, it is challenging thousands of people across the country to dig a metre square pit, 2ft deep, to see what they can find.

College tutor Ms Manchester and students from her GCSE archaeology group, will excavate two pits near woodland at the college's Catterick campus, sifting through any finds, then restoring the site to its original condition

On Sunday, June 29, attention will turn to the college's main site in Cleveland Avenue, Darlington, where two test pits will be dug, one in the quadrangle garden and one in the college grounds.

Ms Manchester said: "Catterick has a very interesting history. It has been a military garrison since Roman times. There was a fort a mile or two from the dig site, as well as a Roman road which passes nearby, so we could find something dating back that far.

"The second test pit is near the old railway line, so we may even find something a Victorian traveller discarded from a passing train."

Visitors are welcome to watch the digs, with work starting at 10am each day.

The North Yorkshire dig takes place during the college's charity open day at the campus, in Catterick Road.