Fossil hunter campaigns for dinosaur dig

From This is Cornwall: Fossil hunter campaigns for dinosaur dig
A professional fossil hunter is claiming he may have found the "biggest and best" dinosaur skeleton to have been discovered on the Jurassic coastline, after stumbling across its tail on the beach at Lyme Regis.

But Chris Moore said he has been battling "red tape" in his bid to excavate the rest of a 200 million-year-old ichthyosaur from the nearby cliffs.

Mr Moore, discovered the one-and-a-half metre-long ichthyosaur's coiled tail while walking on the beach at Lyme Regis in December 2009. He has estimated that the entire fossil could measure eight metres long.

Now, more than three years since he made the discovery, he says officials are refusing to let him dig the rest.

He said: "There is a risk it could fall into the sea very soon if left unexcavated. We need to rescue it before it falls from the cliff. If we didn't it would be a loss to the nation."

Mr Moore has already discovered two new species of ichthyosaur at Lyme Regis, one of which is displayed in the Natural History Museum. The giant marine reptiles resembled dolphins and thrived during much of the Mesozoic era, but disappeared about 90 million years ago – some 25 million years before the dinosaurs became extinct. They were particularly abundant in the Jurassic Period, but were replaced as the top aquatic predators by plesiosaurs during the Cretaceous Period.

The Lyme Regis cliffs form part of the Jurassic coastline, which is a protected World Heritage site, managed by Natural England.

Mr Moore will now put forward a proposal to all stakeholders to excavate the cliff using specialist machinery, in the hope of rescuing the remains. The organisations who will take part in the consultation are Natural England, the World Heritage Site steering group, Dorset County Council and the private landowner of the clifftop, who Mr Moore said had given their "full support".

Lyme Regis senior reserve manager Tom Sunderland, said there were a number of "complicated" reasons why Mr Moore might not be able to excavate the dinosaur. These included health and safety as well as European legislation protecting areas of specific scientific interest.

However, he said: "I am not prepared to go into the issue until the full proposal is submitted."

Mr Moore added that it would be "very sad" if the proposal was refused.