BUDDING Indiana Joneses and Lara Crofts are being sought to help with an archaeological dig in the city.

For six weeks experts will lead a training excavation in the grounds of the Commandery, which used to be a monastic hospital and Royalist Civil War HQ.

They are looking for teams of history-mad people to help discover new facts about one of the city's most important historical sites.

"We're not just talking muscle. We'll show you how to dig, how to record what you find, what the artefacts are, and how to tell visitors all about it," said the city council's archaeologist James Dinn.

"The success of programmes like Time Team and Meet The Ancestors are turning TV archaeology into the new cookery, and we're constantly being asked how people can get to work on an excavation.

"We're looking for volunteers who are fit enough for perhaps strenuous digging and are free to spend at least five days on site - though this can be anytime over the six weeks of the excavation."

This summer's excavation, due to begin on Tuesday, June 21, will concentrate on the site of mediaeval hospital buildings in the gardens at the northern end of the site. Members of Tony Robinson's Time Team, of TV fame, electronically scanned this area in April. Recently published results from the survey were used for a two-day evaluation last week revealing evidence of stone buildings, cobbled yard surfaces, and even part of a tree-trunk.

The initial results are being examined for clues to the location of the aisled 'infirmary hall' probably dating to the first establishment of the Commandery around 1200. It is hoped the dig will reveal more evidence of the original hospital's largest structure.

The project is part of the £1.4m Commandery Project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the city council, which owns the building.

Anyone interested in join the dig should call 01905 855455 between 9.30am and 12.30pm Mondays to Fridays.