DORSET is set to welcome a famous visitor this weekend.

Dippy, the Natural History Museum's iconic diplodocus, will be at the Dorset County Museum in Dorchester from Saturday, February 10 until Monday, May 7.

It will be Dippy’s first stop on his UK tour that will see him visit eight different venues until October 2020.

The iconic diplodocus cast is an impressive 21.3 metres long and 4.25 metres high and will fill the museum’s Victorian Gallery.

He is made up of 292 bones and lived sometime between 156 and 145 million years ago.

Jon Murden, director of the Dorset County Museum, said: "We are anticipating 70,000 visitors over the next three month period and those visitors will go out in the town and it will be great for businesses. We will all benefit from Dippy.” he said.

Mr Murden said the museum team was now working round the clock with the Natural History Museum team to get Dippy ready on time.

"There's been a lot of late nights but he's filling up the room nicely and is more than half way done.

“I think it will be a very different experience here as the exhibition hall in London is vast. Visitors will get a more realistic sense of scale in the Victorian Hall at DCM and will be able to get up close and see Dippy eye to eye from our balcony.”

Purbeck will also join in on the Dippy-mania as Swanage Library will house the replica between March 10 and 15.