Thinking of taking on a new pet? Dippy could be for you. He doesn't bite, he's quiet as a mouse and he doesn't need feeding.

He is, however, 70ft-long and 16ft-tall.

That's right - Dippy the dinosaur is looking for a new home.

Beware though, because Jurassic Park fans looking to house Britain's most famous prehistoric pet will need a monster-sized living room.

The giant replica diplodocus - whose ancestors would have lived in North America 150m years ago - has spent 36 years terrifying schoolchildren in South Kensington's National History Museum.

He was cast in 1898 from fossils unearthed in Wyoming, USA, and is now making way for a "more modern" real-life 83ft-long blue whale carcass to be suspended from the ceiling.

But rather than take him apart and leave him to gather dust, museum bosses want Dippy to take prime place in other locations across the UK.

Museum chiefs have made up a checklist for anyone looking to give him a temporary home for six months.

They must have enough space, meet their security requirements, and be able to reach large audiences of families and schools.

Museum director Sir Michael Dixon said: "Dippy needs to be handled carefully.

"We have never sent anything as big as Dippy beyond the museum.

"For many of us, that first glimpse of Dippy was a formative moment in our childhood, evoking awe and a genuine wonder at the natural world.

"We already know the costs of touring a Diplodocus will be substantial, depending on where the tour visits and how many places it goes.

"Over the months ahead we will be looking for partners to help us realise our vision of as many people in the UK seeing Dippy as possible."

In summer 2017, a diving blue whale skeleton will be suspended in Dippy's place as part of a re-display of Hintze Hall highlighting our relationship with the natural world.

Sir Dixon added: "This is an important and necessary change; the redisplay of Hintze Hall marks the beginning of a decade of transformation for the museum.

"As guardians of one of the world's greatest scientific resources, our purpose is to challenge the way people think about the natural world, and that goal has never been more urgent."

What you'll need to adopt the Dippy:

  • Indoor, with sufficient floor-loading to support a dinosaur and its plinth
  • Space for the Diplodocus with sufficient accessibility for installation and visitor flow
  • Must meet the security requirements of the national security advisor at Arts Council England
  • Venues able to reach to reach large, diverse audiences of families and schools
  • Venues to have a strong network of partnerships with other local organisations
  • The Museum will select venues to give a wide geographical spread
  • Venues able to co-create and support programming

The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, SW7 5BD - 020 7942 5000