A British holidaymaker has uncovered what is believed to be a lost, ancient temple while snorkelling in the Mediterranean.

Michael Le Quesne, 16, was swimming off a popular beach in Montenegro with his parents and his ten-year-old sister Teodora when he spotted an odd looking 'stone' at a depth of around two metres.

It turned out to be a large, submerged building which may have been the centrepiece of an important Greek or Roman trading post, swallowed up by the sea during a massive earthquake.

No historical records exist of a major settlement on the site, although the Montenegrin coast is dotted with ancient ruins yet to be documented.

The discovery has been described as “something that could rouse curiosity in the world of science” by Mladen Zagarčanin, the curator of the museum in Bar and archaeologist, who inspected the site the following day.