POLICE are hoping to catch illegal 'night hawkers' after small holes were found on the banks of the Roman amphitheatre.

The amphitheatre, as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, is protected against ground disturbance or unlicensed metal detecting.

Therefore, it is a criminal offence to use a metal detector to find artifacts on the premises without a licence from Historic England.

The crime is often referred to as 'night hawking', which is the theft of archaeological artifacts from protected sites and areas at night.

Small holes or excavations, found to be about 10x12x6 inches, were found at the amphitheatre on November 7.

Sergeant Garrett Gloyn said: "Somebody has dug holes at the Roman amphitheatre. We are investigating that as a possible 'night hawking' offence.

"If somebody is doing it a night, they probably know they are doing something wrong.

"We are interested to hear from the public if anyone has seen someone acting suspiciously. If somebody is in there during hours of darkness, it is because they could be arrested and prosecuted.

"We do not know if any finds or archaeological importance have been removed."

If you have any information, call 101 and quote incident 118 of November 26.