MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council (MCC) has been accused of breaking the law by digging through an ancient monument.

The council has dug a trench the full length of the Clawdd Du town defensive ditch at Overmonnow as part of a community clean-up project.

The excavation is hundreds of yards long and has cut through the thin archaeological levels into the underlying natural shales.

MCC has stopped work on the project but professional and amateur archaeologists in the town are calling for an inquiry by Cadw Historic Monuments.