A MYSTERY has been unearthed following the discovery of a set of footprints set in 350,000,000-year-old limestone in a disused quarry.

Now their finder, Jack Willacy, of the Black Horse Hotel, in Pimlico Road, Clitheroe, wants to know if they are the immortalised footfall of Stone Age man as he roamed the Valley in search of food -- or just an elaborate hoax?

The phenomena has been puzzling Jack, who lives at the Black Horse Hotel, on Pimlico Road, Clitheroe, since he made the discovery in summer. The find was uncovered in the disused Cross Hills Quarry, on the outskirts of Clitheroe, which was formerly excavated by Castle Cement. It is thought the quarry was abandoned in the 1930s.

Part of the area was designated a nature reserve in 1990 and was opened by Lord Clitheroe. It is regularly used by locals for strolling or walking dogs.

"I moved to Clitheroe in June when my son took over as licensee of the pub," explained Jack who originates from Preston and is a retired publican.

"I regularly walk along the footpaths around the quarry, just a few hundred yards from the pub, with my dog, Alfie. Round about August, kids began using the paths and quarry as a mountain bike track. They began vandalising the place, digging sods up to make mounds to jump over and pulling up shrubs to make tracks.

"One day they dragged a load of undergrowth and lichen from some rocks. I was amazed to see about a dozen footprints all perfectly set in the stone. There were even some handprints."

Jack, 67, who has travelled the world extensively and has an interest in geology, said he had seen animal prints in rocks in other parts of the world and these looked just the same.

"One was perfectly smooth when I first saw it but the kids have been chipping at them with stones and they are getting spoilt," he said.

However, some have not been touched and he would love someone to go along and tell him whether they are real.

But head of geology at Preston College, Mike Gosling, dismissed the find as "impossible." "I know the quarry quite well. The rock there is carboniferous limestone and is approximately 350,000,000 years old. Geologists estimate man did not make an appearance until 2,000,000 years ago so the footprints cannot have been made while the rock was being formed," he said.

"I expect it is either the case that someone has carved them as a bit of fun, or it is a lump of concrete which has been deposited there."

However, to satisfy everyone's curiosity, Mr Gosling said he would go along to the quarry and have a look at the marks himself and offer his verdict.

Keith Hall, quarry manager with Castle Cement said until Mr Willacy mentioned them, it was the first he had heard about them.

He said he too would be interested to find out the origins of the mystery marks, though agreed with Mr Gosling that they are likely to be the result of someone's expert masonry.

"There's certainly a mystery surrounding them however they got there," said Mr Hall.