A £2.8 million grant has been lined up for a new fossil museum in Purbeck.

The Kimmeridge Trust has received an initial green light to receive the money from the Heritage Lottery Fund to conserve and develop the Etches collection of fossils, world famous among palaeontologists.

Having submitted outline proposals the trust now has two years to apply for the funds in more detail with a view to opening the new museum in 2016.

General Sir Michael Hobbs, Chairman of the Kimmeridge Trust, said the “generosity of the Heritage Lottery Fund will give thousands of people a greater understanding of the Jurassic Coast as a World Heritage Site and its relevance to life today”.