Oh sweet, the Mary Anning Statue has been approved!

A charity's plan for a statue of fossil hunter Mary Anning, which will stand close to the cliffs where she made her discoveries, has been approved. Dorset Council passed Mary Anning Rocks's plan for the Lyme Regis statue. Born in 1799, Anning made numerous groundbreaking discoveries on the Dorset coast, which are still displayed in museums around the world. The campaign for the statue began in 2018, led by schoolgirl Evie Swire, and raised about £100,000. She set about fundraising with her mother after realising the resort had no statue marking Anning's achievements. The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the charity hopes to unveil the statue on 21 May, which would be the 223rd anniversary of the fossil hunter's birth.