Archaeologists, who describe the find as significant, have unearthed the remains of infants buried within the boundaries of the settlement as well as coins, home-made and imported pottery, irrigation ditches, livestock, domestic pets and holes dug for the disposal of waste.

The outline of a traditional roundhouse, which appears to have been extended on a number of occasions, can also be made out along the line of the modern pipeline excavation.

The village, which is thought to date back to between 100AD and 200AD, was discovered 2ft below the surface of pasture land between Haisthorpe and Thornholme just off the A614 to the east of Driffield and is thought to have lain undiscovered for so long because the fields have never been ploughed.

Yorkshire Water is currently spending £12m upgrading the clean water infrastructure around Bridlington, including the construction of more than 40kms of new pipeline.

The work has also uncovered a number of other archaeological finds along the route of the new pipeline.