A laborer building the car park in 1938 unearthed part of the boat some 10 feet below ground but his supervisor ordered him to cover it up for fear the discovery would slow construction, The Independent reported Monday.

Now, nearly 70 years later, local officials are hoping to persuade archaeologists to conduct a more detailed investigation of the area and possibly begin digging for the vessel.

The only other know examples of Viking ships in Britain have been found in the Isle of Man and in Orkney.

A Viking settlement once covered much of the Wirral peninsula where the car park is located.

Before he died, John McRae, the laborer who discovered the boat, sent details to archaeologists at Liverpool University.

A radar scan of the area showed a "boat-shaped anomaly" buried in waterlogged blue clay.

Dr. Knut Paasche of the University of Oslo believes it may well be a six-oared Viking boat.