A British discoverer who says he has found the world's largest rock sculptures is poised to prove his claims.

Bill Veall used the latest satellite imaging techniques to search the Peruvian mountains for ancient shapes and formations.

He was astonished to discover a series of designs, carved into the Andean Cordillera.

Mr Veall made a film of his discovery and uploaded it to skynews.com/yourvideos.

A 'sacred lamb' image, measuring 1400m by 1000m, was identified next to an altar stone, an antelope head and two staring faces of the 'Sun God' and Venus.

"It was absolutely magical to find one and then another and another," said Mr Veall.

"Over the years I had discovered other images on the Nasca desert nearby, so I'm used to looking at images made from variations in texture.

"I felt disbelief to start, then excitement and amazement to find something so remote in the mountain top."

Mr Veall, who studies the relationships between astronomy and archaeological monuments, has faced a series of doubters who claim he doctored the images to create an elaborate hoax.

But he has now obtained permission from the Peruvian National Institute of Culture to carry out a real-time flyover of the sites.

"I have a very simple explanation for those who don't believe me," Mr Veall says. "If I gave you the co-ordinates of the site, a million people would find it immediately. When you know where it is, it's obvious."

"But we want to secure and preserve the site until we can get a scientific team to have a look at it."

Mr Veall says the designs could be up to 5,000 years old and would raise important questions about the pre-history of Peru.

(Original headline: Riddle Of Giant Rock 'Sculptures' )

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