A LEGACY IN LEGO The legacy of Victorian fossil hunter Mary Anning continues in a new set of three women Lego characters including a palaeontologist.

The ‘Research Institute’ set of new characters released by Lego on August 1 also includes an astronomer and chemist.

Lyme Regis Museum director David Tucker has welcomed the new characters, especially the palaeontologist, adding that the characters represent ‘a positive role for women’.

It is believed the Lego set was released after complaints their current figures weren’t positive or inspiring enough to youngsters.

In January, seven-year-old Charlotte Benjamin wrote to the company accusing its female characters of being boring. She wrote that she ‘loves Lego’ but that the girl figures created by the company ‘sit at home, go to the beach and shop’ while the boy characters ‘saved people, had jobs and even swam with sharks.’ Charlotte’s letter attracted widespread attention across the globe and she urged Lego to make ‘more Lego girl people and let them go on adventures and have fun’.

In the new set, the three new characters can be seen conducting a scientific experiment, examining a dinosaur skeleton and using a telescope to study astronomy.

Mr Tucker added: “The museum realises how important women are in society. Of course, one of the most famous palaeontologists, Mary Anning, was a woman and she was from Lyme. Here at Lyme Museum we do what we can to encourage women to be involved in science, be it when they are four years old and have come to look for fossils or whether they are at university.”