ONE OF the county's famous land marks - the Osmington White Horse - is to undergo excavation to safeguard its future.

Dorset County Council has received financial support from English Heritage to employ a professional archaeological company to excavate trial pits on the figure.

The project is aimed at finding out how the landmark was constructed and how its management over the years may affect its future.

One of the tasks facing the team is to try to work out how the figure was carved using early 19th century technology.

But it won't be a straightforward archaeological dig, due to the White Horse's location on a steep hill. The digging team will be tethered on ropes for safety reasons.

The council's senior archaeologist, Steve Wallis, said: "We need to do some work to find out what has been done to the site over the last 200 years to give us a better understanding of how to look after the site.

"We need to know if materials were imported to construct the figure, or whether it was made from existing materials after they cleared the turf off."

AC Archaeology will carry out the work with the co-operation of the landowner.

The chalk figure is on the hillside above Osmington and is visible from much of Weymouth.

It dates from 1808 and shows the then king, George III, riding his horse.

It was constructed by the citizens of Weymouth as a way of saying thank you to the king, whose regular visits encouraged the development of the town as a holiday resort.

Over the years, the horse has been cleaned by Territorial Army soldiers, turned into a zebra by pranksters by using black bin liners to create stripes and used in a political protest in 1990 when it was daubed with the words "no poll tax".