THE life-sized replica of a Chinese dinosaur will be unveiled in Bolton tonight.

The 16 feet Tuojiangosaurus will be uncovered at a special ceremony witnessed exclusively by the hundreds of Bolton people who have bought the bones.

Bolton museum staff are today celebrating after finally raising £9,000 to buy the skeleton copy.

Most of the cash has come from local people, especially children, clubbing together to buy vertabrae.

A small child will be selected from the crowd of on-lookers to officially unveil the Jurassic creature -- the first time a full-scale dinosaur has been on show in Bolton.

Steve Garland, acting chief museums officer, said: "We are extremely grateful to all the support given to us by the people of Bolton.

"To raise £6,000 through what was essentially a large number of small donations has been a great achievement, demonstrating the generosity and spirit of our local visitors.

" Although in the end we contributed £3,000 from our purchase funds, and in so doing have limited what the museum can add to its collections in the near future, we are sure it will become a star attraction.

"But most importantly, we couldn't have done it without the help of our local supporters!"

The Tuojiangosaurus will be on display from Saturday until June 10.

It will then take centre stage in the Jurassic exhibition which runs from June 17 to September 16.