WORKERS have uncovered a mysterious collection of bones hidden beneath rotten floorboards.

The 17th Century Sir William Turner's Hospital, at Kirkleatham, near Redcar, is in the middle of a £1.7m renovation scheme by the Tees Valley Housing Group to bring its sheltered housing accommodation for vulnerable elderly people up to 21st Century standards.

The bones were found in a room believed to have been used by the schoolmasters in the 17th and 18th centuries, and were found wedged between the floor joists and the wall.

Experts say the bones are believed to be part of a lucky charm set into the foundation to ward off evil spirits.

But mystery surrounds who put the bones there and why.

Site manager Jack Downey was concerned that the bones may have been human remains and the area was sealed off and work halted.

But archaeologists confirmed they were animal bones.

Peter Row, spokesman for Tees Archaeology, said: "We were very anxious when we first heard that bones had been found at the Kirkleatham site.

"But instead of finding grisly remains we have uncovered a delightful find which adds to the hospital's history."

l Human bones have been exposed on the cliff edge at the parish churchyard at Whitby after a number of landslips.

Bones have been retrieved by coastguards and archaeologists, and will be reinterred close to the 850-year-old parish church of St Mary's.

A spokesman for the Church of England's York Dioceses said the remains were believed to belong to people who died in a marine accident in the 1880s. He said service with blessings and prayers would accompany the burial.

Several gravestones have already been removed from the cliff edge to prevent them falling on people below.