THE almost-complete fossil of diplodocus dinosaur will be up for auction in Britain on Wednesday, the BBC has reported.

The diplodocus is a large, long-necked dinosaur from the late Jurassic period. The fossil was unearthed by palaeontologists in the United States state of Wyoming.

Mr Errol Fuller, curator at Summers Place Auctions in West Sussex, was quoted by the BBC as saying: "To my knowledge it's the first time a large dinosaur skeleton has been auctioned in this country."

The fossil is expected to fetch more than £500,000 (S$1 billion) at the auction. It has an estimated value of between £400,000 and £600,000.