Giant prehistoric 'monsters' to overrun town hall

Dinosaurs' distant ancestors will be on display at the Carboniferous Monsters exhibition

Prehistoric creatures are set to take over a town hall during two art exhibitions.

Bishop Auckland Town Hall will play host to Carboniferous Monsters, an exhibition showcasing dinosaurs' distant ancestors.

It will be shown alongside Newcastle University student Sarah March's Two Minutes to Midnight, which will display canvas panels in the style of cave paintings.

Durham County Council said the exhibitions would give people the chance to see what creatures would have looked like millions of years ago.

Carboniferous Monsters will open in the town hall's main gallery as part of its national tour.

It features 350 million-year-old fossils, reconstructed giant prehistoric animals, and skeleton casts from museums around the world.

On display will be scorpions the size of dogs, millipedes the length of crocodiles, and giant meat-eating dragonflies the size of seagulls.

Two Minutes to Midnight will consist of eight panels reimagined as cave paintings

Two Minutes to Midnight takes its name from the idea that if the earth was a 24-hour clock, humans would only appear at about 23:58.

Fine art student Sarah March's work will go on display in the town hall's Strong Room Gallery.

It will consisted of eight pieces of work, each covering a period of time from the carboniferous era to the modern day.

The pieces depicted a range of plants, invertebrates and vertebrates from both land and sea. Each of the species shown have been found as fossils.

Elizabeth Scott, Durham County Council's Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said: "It is absolutely fascinating to learn about the creatures that would have roamed the same Earth we now live on and see up-close what they would have looked like 100 million years ago."

Both exhibitions will open on 31 August and will be free to view from Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 16:00.