A LIFE-sized sculpture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton is the centrepiece of a Wirral museum's dinosaur exhibition next week.

The 40-foot replica will be on view at West Kirby Museum next Friday, Saturday and Sunday (August 19-21).

Hand-sculpted by Gavin Rymill, it has taken more than six months to make.

Several artists have been specially commissioned to produce paintings which will sit alongside replicas, diagrams and a few real fossils to illustrate how dinosaurs lived and died.

The exhibition explores Britain's prehistoric past and will feature monstrous footprints, including some found on the Wirral, and displays will explain how the local geology fits into the wider view of palaeontology.

It features life-sized fossils, scientific explanations and exhibits and is designed to appeal to adults and children alike.

Gavin - who also organised the exhibition, told the Globe: "I was in need of a new project and had this mad idea of putting a dinosaur in the museum during the summer holidays!

"Unfortunately, a museum-quality T.Rex replica costs about £80,000 and that's a little beyond my budget. 

"But, as luck would have it, I'm a professional sculptor so I thought, 'how hard could it be to make one?!'"

Gavin's usual work is done on the computer, where he creates digital 'sculpts' that are 3D printed.

For three years he has worked on figurines that are 10cm high, so carving something 12 metres long in the real world was totally new.

The gigantic bones - some as long as five feet - were cut from massive blocks of polystyrene which were bought from a waste centre.

It took two vans to ship them to West Kirby and a chainsaw to turn them into manageable sections before they were shaped with smaller tools.

Looking ahead, Gavin continued: "If the three days go well and feedback is positive, then it would be a shame not to revive it somehow.

"If there's an appetite for it, I can do the same thing again right here but ideally I'd like to keep adding to it, expanding it and who knows - maybe even house it permanently.

"I wonder if the public would welcome a 'Wirral Dinosaur Centre' one day?"

On his decision to exhibit at West Kirby Museum, he said: "It is a tiny little gem which explores the local history of the village and the archaeology of St. Bridget's Church, and we want more people to know about it.

"The museum is part of larger a community centre which has a vast space with a lot of potential."

The museum is based at St Bridget's Centre in St Bridget's Lane, West Kirby. 

The dinosaur exhibition will be open from 10am-4pm on Friday and Saturday (August 19 and 20) and 12.30pm to 4pm on Sunday August 21. 

Entry is £5 for adults, £2 for children and seniors.

Family ticket £12 (up to 5 people, max 2 adults).