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The Natural History Museum’s iconic dinosaur “Dippy the Diplodocus” was set to leave London after more than 120 years on display.

The 70ft plaster-cast was set to be "flat packed" ahead of his nationwide tour as work began to take down the museum favourite.

One of the venue's best-recognised exhibits, the sauropod replica made up of 292 bones, will bid farewell from January 5 when Hintze Hall closes.

Lorraine Cornish, head of conservation at the central London museum, said a team of six will start dismantling Dippy piece by piece - beginning with the tail - over three-and-a-half weeks.

She said that Dippy would be cleaned and repaired where required and packed into 12 crates as he prepared for his two-year tour.

Ms Cornish said he will also be fitted with a new armature which will allow him to be put up and taken down easily, as the current one was "not made for travelling or touring".

"We are drawing out a map so we can locate each part of that skeleton - we have a labelling system because some of the vertebrae look very similar," she added.

"Once you get them off you don't want to muddle them up, so we have developed a proper numbering system that works with dinosaur anatomy.

"When we come to put it back together we don't get anything jumbled up."

Made in 1905 Dippy took up residence in Hintze Hall in 1979 and in 1993 had his tail raised - in that time it is estimated he has been viewed by more than 90 million visitors.

Ms Cornish, who joined the museum when Dippy moved into the entrance hall, said his departure is "an emotional time" and that staff "bond" and "feel protective" about the specimens.

Dippy's tour will start in early 2018 - venues will include the Dorset County Museum, which has a gallery dedicated to Britain's fossil-rich Jurassic Coast.

His coveted spot at the entrance to the museum is being taken by the real skeleton of an 83ft (25.2m) female blue whale, weighing 4.5 tonnes.

She will take up position from summer this year in a diving pose as she is suspended from the ceiling of the hall.