Archaeologists carrying out a dig at Oxford Castle are to be filmed for the BBC programme Meet the Ancestors.

Skeletons thought to be those of victims of an outbreak of jail fever in 1577, have been uncovered at the site.

The dig is taking place before construction work starts on the Osborne Group's £34m project to turn the castle area, off New Road, into a hotel and leisure complex begins.

Last year, the county council, which owns the site, agreed to provide another £200,000 for the dig after finding remains.

Senior project manager Dan Poore said: "The BBC's Meet the Ancestors programme will be filmed over coming weeks to capture the process by which we make discoveries and analyse them.

"The programme will be screened in Spring 2004 and I am sure it will make fascinating viewing for Oxfordshire residents and people from all over the country."

To date, 16 skeletons have been discovered, and archaeologists are trying to establish when they date from and why they are buried in the castle grounds.

The present phase of the archaelogical dig is taking place on land where prison buildings have been demolished to make way for an underground car park above which one of the new buildings will be constructed.