'Roman remains' rumour scotched

HOUSE builders Barratts have dismissed stories that it had found a trove of valuable Roman artefacts had been found at a site in Thurcroft.

A Thurcroft resident had claimed that work had stopped on the Hedgerows project between Laughton Road and Sawn Moor Road, Thurcroft, after a sword and a shield had been found.

But a spokesman for the firm said the rumour wasn’t true.

He said: “It’s not as uncommon as you might think. “We are in the business of doing a lot of digging and do turn up the odd ancient find.

“But if anything had been found at the site in Thurcroft we would be publicising it and probably making efforts to rename the development, too.”

Barratt begun groundworks at the site which will accommodate 369 residential properties after Rotherham Borough Council granted planning permission at the site earlier this year.

The decision came some 50 years after an application for a housing development on the greenfield site was first tabled.