TWO skeletons have been discovered beneath The Commandery - and experts warn they could be the first of many.

Employees using the museum staff room have unwittingly been taking a lunchtime break over what could be an ancient burial ground.

Two bodies from the late mediaeval period were dug up from under the museum's staff room floor by county council archaeologists yesterday.

They are the first human remains unearthed at the Civil War centre, in Sidbury, Worcester, and are thought to date from when the site was a monastic hospital.

Commandery manager Amanda Lunt said it was an exciting find, which could even reveal further skeletons dating from as far back as Saxon times.

"The two bodies are next to each other in prepared graves, just below where we eat our sandwiches," said Miss Lunt.

"We could have hit the middle of the monastic graveyard, upon which the existing domestic quarters dating from 1500 to 1600 were built.

"If this area was always used for burials, we could dig deeper and find skeletons dating even earlier."

Archaeologist James Goad made the discovery, after making an exploratory dig for the possible siting of a lift for people with disabilities.

"The one skeleton was probably male, stood just over 5ft tall, around the average height for that time, and possibly died some time between the mid-1400s to 1500," he said.

Mr Goad said the man's well ground teeth suggested he ate a coarse diet, probably made up mainly of root vegetables, wheat and pulses. This was the basic food of the poor, as only the rich were able to afford a meat diet.

The hospital was used as a place to treat the sick and weak as well as help the poor and elderly.

Miss Lunt said because of the site's variety of functions it could prove hard to discover the bodies' identities.

It is not yet known if further excavations will take place, but the skeletons will be taken away for further studies.