AN UNTOUCHED room full of documents and receipts from the 1970's has been discovered in a building in Southbourne Grove.

Arnaud Kaziewicz, the director of a restaurant business, made the discovery after builders unlocked the door to the room.

Hundreds of documents were discovered, preserved in time.

He said: "It's quite exciting that no one has touched the room since the 1970's.

"I've taken on the lease of the building, which used to be a pharmacy. The landlord Peter lived there with his dad who was a pharmacist. I think that after they left or after Peter's dad died, someone bolted up the door to the room under the stairs and left it.

"The room is full of receipts, documents and everything is meticulously ordered. Peter said it hasn't changed since the last time he saw it when his father was there. The room has remained exactly the same."

Everything in the room is dated from the 1970's but there are some items that are dated from the 1940's.

Arnaud said: "When I discovered it, I thought it was great, like a treasure chest. I'm very new to Bournemouth and already I can feel a real sense of community, so I thought the community would like to know that part of the history of this building is still there."

Arnaud plans to frame and display one of the documents once he completes the building's transformation into a restaurant so visitors can remember and learn about the history of the building.