A Wiltshire man claims to have found a ‘lost’ Mayan city hidden deep in the Peten Jungle during an expedition to Guatemala in Central America.

Matt Hill, a former captain in the Parachute Regiment, now runs a local expeditions company called Matt Hill Expeditions.

On his most recent venture, he took 20 people to spend a week deep in the remote, inaccessible jungle, in the middle of an exciting archaeological time when many Mayan cities are being discovered.

The expedition took place from February 28 to March 10, with the people on the trek each paying around £4,000 to take part.

Mr Hill, who lives in Seend Cleeve near Melksham and also runs the Systema Academy, said: “We led 20 people deeper and deeper into the Peten Jungle and spent seven days under the tree canopy sleeping in hammocks.

“While there, we found an ancient Mayan city that had been hidden for decades and discovered that a tunnel containing a royal burial chamber had been looted. But we found artefacts which will be of archaeological interest.

“The Jungle in Guatemala is immense. At the moment, it is at the centre of one of the most exciting archaeological revelations in the world.

“Many of the Mayan cities are being found from the air using Lidar technology which has unearthed hundreds more sites than they thought were there. They are in remote, areas, inaccessible to vehicles and drops.

“This new information is forcing historians to completely re-write their understanding of Mayan history. The civilisation seems to have been way bigger and more complex than previously thought.”

Mr Hill joined a local guide on the trek, Carlos Vivar, who has previously presented to the Royal Geographical Society in the UK.

Carlos said: “With Matt's team we were able to go deeper into the jungle than I have ever taken anyone in 25 years of being a guide.

“Due to the skills and experience of the team we were able to spend seven days walking deep into the jungle as opposed to having to come back out each day.

“This enabled us to discover sites that are previously unrecorded that will undoubtedly hold priceless information and artefacts. I am excited to go back and excavate them.”

The Instituto de Antropologia e Historia, part of the Ministry of Culture and Sports in Guatemala, will be asked to verify the find.

Mr Hill is hopping Carlos will be able to make another presentation to the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Matt, 49, formed his expeditions company as an extension of his work with the Systema Academy, which offers breathwork and mobility classes and holistic solutions for the mind, body and spirit.

He is a former captain and second-in-command officer of the Parachute Regiment and spent time in the jungles of Belize and Borneo as part of his armed forces training.

Mr Hill is a qualified jungle warfare instructor and says that finding the hidden Mayan city has been “enormously exciting”.

“It was a real and unexpected honour and privilege to find the city, which I have been asked to name Systemaya,” he said.