She was a pioneering palaeontologist years ahead of her time and now, finally, Mary Anning is set to get the recognition she deserves - thanks to a 10-year-old girl.

A permanent statue is to be raised in Lyme Regis in honour of the famous fossil hunter.

It comes after fossil mad Evie Swire asked her mum, Anya, why there wasn't already a statue of Anning in the town 'as she is amazing.’

Anya then met with town and district councillor Cheryl Reynolds to ask why there wasn’t a statue celebrating Anning's achievements.

"We are very good at immortalising men in this country," said Anya. "But when it comes to remembering and celebrating the remarkable things women have done we are, sadly, really bad at it.

"So who are our boys and girls looking up to? Mary Anning is a perfect example and a statue to her is long overdue."

Cllr Reynolds has confirmed with Evie that Lyme Regis Town Council has unanimously agreed for the statue to go ahead.

"A statue for Mary has always been something we wanted to do for the town, we just needed the energy and the girl power of the young to kick start it," said Cllr Reynolds.

Anya and Evie hope the statue will be placed in a prime spot in Lyme so the town's annual 20,000 visitors will be able to see it as they make there way down to the beach to fossil hunt.

"We’ve got a lot of hard work to do," said Evie. "We're now raising funds and getting the #MaryAnningRocks campaign going."

Cllr Reynolds added: "So far, we have had a great response, including support from the famous American palaeontologist Jack Horner, the scientist behind the Jurassic World movies, and the talented Tracy Chevalier, local novelist and author of the Mary Anning story ‘Remarkable Creatures’. But we need everyone’s support, especially Dorset that of folk, to get this worthy project off the ground."

The #MaryAnningRocks campaign is looking for local people, schools and businesses to help with the project. For more information and to contribute, tweet @MaryAnningRocks or contact Cllr Reynolds directly on c.reynolds@lymeregistowncouncil.gov.uk