A REMNANT of the Second World War has been uncovered at a Hereford building site.

Construction worker, Jamie Evans was working at Skylon Park in Rotherwas when his colleague hit something solid and retrieved what looked like a hatch door from a tank.

Mr Evans cleaned up the object and posted photos on Facebook to see whether anyone could confirm his beliefs on the origin of the object.

He was soon contacted by Daniel Rees, from Herefordshire Light Infantry Museum, who confirmed the object was a United States M4 'Sherman' medium tank commanders cuppola split hatch door.

Mr Evans said: "It looked like a pile of mud when it was first found. As soon as I finished work I took photos of it for somebody to confirm. I was well chuffed. It's not something you find every day."

The hatch is nearly 1.5 inches thick, made of armoured steel and would have been manufactured in one of the American locomotive factories. The style of door entered production in November 1943.

The Royal Ordnance Factory at Rotherwas officially closed on September 29 1945 when the Ministry of Supply took over a section of the site to facilitate the breaking down of obsolete or scrap armoured vehicles and processing government stores for public auction.

And Mr Rees said the discovery is important in the study of the local area after the Second World War.

He said: "Surviving original paint indicated it was a lend-lease tank to the British government – dark green paint was applied over United States olive drab by the British Army from April 1944 onwards.

"During the construction of the Arctic Circle factories in the 1990s, two tank periscopes and engine parts were found. This would further indicate this area of Cold Nose Road as being the centre of either component storage or the initial stripping of armoured vehicles.

"The find by Jamie Evans pinpoints one of the actual models of vehicle being broken down, this is very important in building a picture of the site after the Second World War. If anyone has any further details of the armoured vehicles or the breaking operations in Rotherwas it would be gratefully appreciated."

Anyone with information can email Mr Rees on reesmilitary@yahoo.com