Work is due to re-start on building a JD Wetherspoon pub in Gorleston today after construction was halted when workmen discovered a crypt on the site.

Contractors are due to start using lighter machinery under the supervision of archaeologists at the site off the High Street that will become The William Adams pub.

When clearing the site earlier this month the crypt, which contains at least two bodies, was found.

It is believed to be connected to a former Methodist chapel on the site, which had last been home to GT Motors.

Paul Gillings, property development manager at JD Wetherspoon, said land stripping work was due to start today after a meeting was held yesterday with an archaeologist and new diggers arrived.

Today's controlled excavation is due to be held under the supervision of archaeologists brought in by the national pub chain.

Mr Gillings said: 'We have reviewed what type of equipment we need in case more crypts are found.

'This is a find the archaeologists are interested in. I have never seen a crypt discovered on a site we have been working on before.'

Mr Gillings added it was unclear what impact the discovery of the crypt would have on the timetable for the pub's construction.

The William Adams is due to open in October. It had been originally planned to open on July 18 and is named after a local 19th century lifeguard.