Archaeologists are to dig exploratory trenches in Wallingford in advance of a proposed housing development.

Three trenches are to be dug on land off Castle Street, which belongs to the George Hotel. The plot is currently used as an over-spill car park for hotel customers, but holding company Grace Hotels wants to build nine "mews style" housing units on the site. An archaeological dig to check the history of the site is seen as a first step towards getting planning approval.

John Carroll, of surveyors Carroll & Partners, said his client Grace Hotels was about to submit detailed plans to South Oxfordshire District Council.

He said: "We are proposing a mixture of two- and three-storey mews style units around a courtyard - six houses and three flats. The coach-house, in one corner, is a listed building and would be retained."

Mr Carroll added that discussions had been on-going with the district council's conservation officer because of the obvious historical significance of the site, next to Wallingford Castle.

It was recently announced that a team of experts from Leicester, Oxford and Exeter universities hoped to begin an in-depth survey of the town next summer.