DIPPY the Diplodocus was finally unveiled at Dorset County Museum for his first stop on his UK tour.

It was a tight squeeze in the Victorian Gallery for the 150 million year old dinosaur replica, with only a few centimetres spare at each end.

It's been a tiring few weeks for everyone involved in the Dippy on Tour exhibition to re-assemble the 21 metre-long dinosaur replica. It opens to the public today.

Director of Dorset County Museum, Jon Murden, said there had been a lot of late nights and early starts this week but he is "over the moon" that Dippy is in Dorchester. 

He said: "The museum has been here for over 170 years and this has to be the biggest moment for us. We've never had such a big exhibition, and one that is expected to draw in so many people. 

"I'm just delighted. It's not often that you get the opportunity to be involved in such an iconic object that's not only known across Britain, but across the world. The star here today is definitely Dippy. 

"We've been working with the Jurassic Coast Trust and the National History Museum for two and a half years, it's been a lot of hard work, but completely worth it."

Lucky competition winner, 11-year-old Harry Swift, from Eastleigh in Hampshire, couldn't believe he won the competition with the museum to fit the final piece of Dippy together.

He placed the final 292nd bone on the dinosaur's foot.

In his entry he said he explained that he just loved dinosaurs. He was even wearing a personalised 'Harry and Dippy' t-shirt for the big day yesterday. 

He said he was "really excited" but "a little nervous" fitting the final bone. 

Dippy was discovered in 1898 has been famously on show at The Natural History Museum in London since 1905 and has never left the museum. 

The skeleton is a cast made in the early 1900s from an original in Pennsylvania, USA.

It is an example of the Diplodocus carnegii species, which lived between 145 and 156 million years ago.

Philippa Charles, director of the Garfield Weston Foundation, which has helped fund Dippy's tour, said: "The foundation is 60 years old this year and trustees decided it would be fantastic to partnership with the Natural History Museum to bring something out of London that would inspire and educate so many people. 

"Dippy is magnificent and there is no better place for him to start his tour than in Dorset."

More than 35,000 tickets have already been booked for people to come and see Dippy which is open to the public from today until May 7.

Tickets are free and allocated on a first come first served basis from dorsetcountymuseum.org or from the museum's reception.