DINOSAURS and sea monsters from Yorkshire’s dim and distant past have helped visitor numbers soar at a York museum.

Yorkshire Museum has celebrated its most successful year since the formation of York Museums Trust in 2002.

Over the past 12 months, from April 2018, more than 163,000 people have come through its doors, a success that is being largely attributed to its Yorkshire’s Jurassic World exhibition.

This figure was up 36 per cent on the previous year, which was its second most successful year thanks to the Viking: Rediscover the Legend exhibition.

Jurassic World, which was officially launched in March 2018, combines nationally significant collections and cutting-edge technology to bring to life the huge beasts that lived in Yorkshire 150 million years ago.

The long-term exhibition was officially opened by Sir David Attenborough and is expected to run until at least March 2020.

Spokesman Richard Saward said: “It has been a fantastic year for the museum and brilliant to see so many people engaging with our collections in new and exciting ways.

“Yorkshire’s Jurassic World has added a new element to the museum, which already contained some of Britain’s most impressive archaeological treasures.

“The team has worked really hard to ensure we offer a great experience and we are looking forward to another busy year, with the Eboracum Roman Festival in June just around the corner.”

The Trust’s good news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that the Yorkshire Museum has been shortlisted for Visitor Attraction of the Year at this year’s Visit York Tourism Awards, to be announced on June 20.

York Museums Trust was formed as a charity to look after the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens, York Art gallery and York Castle Museum .