Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist who has “experienced” studying the giant reptile, said: “Although there have been many Ichthyosaur fossils found in the UK, this is the largest skeleton ever found here. It is an unprecedented discovery and one of the greatest discoveries in the history of British palaeontology.”

“It was the top of the food chain, an apex predator. So it would have fed on other ichthyosaurs, eaten large fish and if it caught squid, it would have eaten squid,” Lomax added.

However, according to expert Lomax, this discovery is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, with much more to be discovered about the specimen once the rocks are cleared.

Two incomplete Ichthyosaur specimens, much smaller than the recent discovery, were found during the construction of Rutland Water in the 1970s

Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles that first appeared around 250 million years ago and became extinct 160 million years later. They ranged in size from 1 to over 25 metres in length and were dolphin-like in appearance.