New evidence suggests people returned to live among the ruins of Pompeii after the ancient Roman city was devastated by a volcanic eruption.

Archaeologists believe some survivors who could not afford to start a new life elsewhere returned to the site and may have been joined by others looking for a place to settle.

Pompeii was home to more than 20,000 people before Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, burying - and preserving - much of the city, before its rediscovery in the 16th century.

There had been previous speculation that survivors had returned to the ruins, and archaeologists at the site said in a statement on Wednesday that the theory appears to have been confirmed by new research.