A County Durham farmer has just agreed to a £1m excavation of a fully intact Roman fort and town under his land that is expected to attract world-wide attention.

Farmer Nick Greenwell's family have always known there was a lot more to find out about the fort since they first bought the working dairy farm in the 1640s.

But after an extensive scan of the site in the village of Lanchester earlier this year Mr Greenwell has decided to agree to a feasibility study that could lead to the quiet rural area being turned into an internationally important tourist attraction.

Derwentside District Council officers are currently working on the study and are looking into the possibility of applying for more than £1m from the European Union and lottery backed English Heritage.

If they are successful the officers and Mr Greenwell are considering training a camera on the dig to show pictures on the internet, which would be relayed around the world.

"It really is a stunning site, one of the finest examples of its type in northern Europe," said Mr Greenwell. "There's probably more intact here than at Hadrian's wall and more than at the other forts in the region."

Mr Greenwell, 50, who is a working farmer, explained that he would receive an undisclosed sum to recompense for loss of earnings if the scheme came to fruition.

He added that his great, great, great uncle Canon William Greenwell was the first to make some serious excavations of the work in modern times in the 1870s. Another partial excavation was made in the 1930s.

The fort, known as Longovicium in Roman times, is thought to have been first built in the second century. But for Durham County Council archaeology officer Niall Hammond the most exciting part of the site is the extensive remains of the town that surround the fort.

A few visible parts of the fort at Dere Steet can currently be viewed by the public from the B6301 road.