An Iron Age settlement at Bourne Hill on Fleetwood Road, close to the border between Fleetwood and Thornton, which was unearthed by local enthusiasts, may be under threat because Wyre Council wants to build the new graveyard.

Fleetwood Cemetery is expected to be full by 2012 and the council is seeking an alternative site.

Now the race is on to discover as much as possible about a location the local team believe could be the site of the long-lost Roman port of Portus Setantiorum.

Depending on what discoveries are made, the site could be declared an ancient monument.

Brian Hughes, of Wyre Archaeology, said: "We need to provide sufficient evidence for English Heritage which is why we need to get a professional in. We would have to dig a bit more, prove what was there and then maybe they could put an Ancient Monument Order on it."

For years historians have argued about the location of Portus Setantiorum, a place mentioned in the writings of Greek cartographer Ptolemy.

The port's name indicates a link to the Setantii tribe, who lived on the Fylde.

Mr Hughes believes that the second century settlement would have been close enough to the former banks of the River Wyre to have been a port.

Already volunteers have found Iron Age roundhouses, a rectangular embankment which may have been fortified, defensive embankments and an ancient cobbled trackway.

A Wyre Council spokesman said: "It is true that archaeological information about the site would be needed as part of the formal process to gain permission for this land to become a cemetery.

"We would be interested in talking to the local historians about the site and their plans for further investigation which would need council permission."