A TREASURE trove of artefacts found buried in Oxford’s Westgate car park has been pulling in the crowds.

Since it opened 20 days ago, up to 2,500 shoppers have stopped to marvel at finds on display, based in what was a Claire’s Accessories store in the Westgate shopping centre.

The shopping centre is undergoing a £440m revamp, which will see two new shopping malls added, featuring hundreds of new shops.

Excavation work on the car park has unearthed items ranging from 100 to 800 years old.

Oxford Archaeology project director Ben Ford said: “For various reasons, quite a lot of items can’t be displayed but we have a lot of broken pottery.

“The exhibition is an absolutely wonderful opportunity.

“We have had anything from 100 to 150 visitors per day.

“It’s an opportunity for the public to engage with the current project and for us to tell people about our work.

“And because it’s in the shopping centre, people aren’t going out of their way to get there.”

From Saturday, August 18, the exhibition will move to the top floor of Oxford Central Library.

After a free open day for visitors to see the excavations drew in 11,000 people in five hours, a second is now planned for September 12 from 10am to 3.30pm.