A rare fossil thought to be millions of years old has been found on Portland.

Sophie Braund, a fossil hunter from Portland, discovered the leg bone of a dinosaur when working on her land.

Ms Braund explained she was ‘in the right place at the right time’ when she discovered the fossil.

She said: “I saw it poking out of the ground. It didn’t look like a dinosaur bone, but then I started to dig it up and it kept going back further and further, I had a hunch it was very old. 

Ms Braund knew how to uncover the fossil after years of experience hunting for fossils with her dad, an amateur paleontologist.

She added: “It was fractured, but I dug up everything I could. I think I was just in the right place at the right time.”

Following her discovery, the fossil was thought to have belonged to a mammoth, however, it was later confirmed that it likely came from a megalosaurus, a carnivore, which walked on two legs and had short arms.

Ms Braund immediately handed the fossil into the Portland Museum, who will showcase it to the public as part of their latest dinosaur event.

The fossil is thought to be 145 million years old, and drew the attention of local fossil expert Dr Rob Coram, who helped to repair the fossil for the museum.

In the past Portland museum has been handed fossils dating back millions of years including a fossil of a pilosaurus, an ichthyosaurus and a Jurassic turtle, as well as fossils of ancient pine trees and ammonites.

Lisa Gravett, manager of the Portland Museum, welcomed the fossil.

She said: “We are very pleased and grateful to Sophie. It shows that there were dinosaurs walking around here which is strange to imagine.

“It also means a great deal to the museum to have something so rare in our collection and hopefully it will attract more visitors to the museum and Portland itself. 

“It can only do a great deal of good, people will want to visit the area and get to know more about the Jurassic Coast and its history.”

The museum will showcase the fossil at its dinosaur event on Friday, 4 August.

Dino Day 2017 aims to teach families about dinosaurs through arts and crafts and a dinosaur hunt around the museum. 

Families will also be able to handle fossils and have been encouraged to dress up like their favourite dinosaur.

The event will start at 10.30am and finish at 4pm, children’s entry costs £4 and adult entry is free. Refreshments will also be available. 

For more information, please call 01305 821804 or email portlandmuseum@gmail.com