Dippy the Diplodocus takes up Coventry residency

Arguably the world's most famous dinosaur exhibit has taken up residency at a Coventry museum.

The first visitors have seen Dippy the Diplodocus at Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, where it will be display for the next three years.

The 26-metre long (85ft) skeleton was seen by more than two million people on a UK tour, after a 112-year stay in the Natural History Museum ended in 2017.

The exhibition was a "great coup" for Coventry, the museum said.

Daisy-Marie, a Coventry Young Ambassador and dinosaur fan, was selected to put the final toe bone in place.

"It is great to have Dippy in Coventry and I'm sure it is going to be really popular," she said.

The 292 replica bones arrived in 28 crates, and took about half a dozen people four days to assemble, said Marguerite Nugent, cultural director at Culture Coventry.

"It's been a really exciting process, and I can't believe that today's the day we open to the public," she said.

"It is an immense thing to have in the building."

Coventry Young Ambassadors were among the first people to see the exhibit at its new home

Dippy sits on a 4x8m (13x26ft) plinth with a plywood floor put down across the gallery so crates were able to be unloaded without causing damage.

"It's not easy to move and put together a very large dinosaur skeleton like this," said Lorraine Cornish, head of conservation at the Natural History Museum.

"You've got to make sure everything's on the right way around so you need to know your dinosaur anatomy."

Visitors to Herbert Art Gallery and Museum will be able to see the exhibit for the next three years

Free tickets have been made available for advance booking, which have all been taken up for the first week of the exhibition.

But on-the-day walk-in tickets are also available, said Ms Nugent.

Museum officials said they were expecting high demand during Easter.

It is hoped the exhibit will also bring a boost to the city centre economy.

"We know from previous venues that Dippy has a huge impact on the visitor economy in every city where it's been to, so we're really excited about the potential to drive more footfall to the city and really show off the city," Ms Nugent added.

Dippy the Diplodocus had been on show in the Natural History Museum's Hintze Hall since 1979