The Kimmeridge Trust, which aims to create The Kimmeridge Fossil Museum in Dorset, is celebrating today after becoming the only project in the south west to achieve a round one pass in the latest round of Heritage Lottery Fund funding.

The £299,375 grant will go towards the cost of developing the detail of the project in order to submit a round two application to the HLF, for a major national grant of £2.5m.

The trust wants to construct a fossil museum at Kimmeridge Bay, to conserve and develop a collection of local fossils which have been collected by Steve Etches, one of the driving forces behind the project. The 2,000-strong colletion is hailed as the most complete range of late Jurassic age fossils assembled in Britain.

The museum would be primarily an eduational experience aimed at all ages, with regular talks, workshops, field trips and exhibitions. Interpretation material will show visitors what the specimens would have looked like in life, using interactive displays and other media.

Head of HLF South West, Richard Bellamy, said: "The Etches Collection is truly extraordinary and gives us a comprehensive history of fossil collecting on Dorset's Jurassic Coast. We look forward to working with the Kimmeridge Trust over the coming months as they develop their ideas further."