A song about west Dorset’s own ‘rock star’ has been released.

To help make a young girl’s dream of having a statue of her idol Mary Anning in her hometown of Lyme Regis, a song about the famous palaeontologist has been released.

Bolton-based band Dark Sacred Night has released The Perfect Storm, a song about Mary Anning.

Dave Rowley from the band was inspired to write the song after visiting the area.

He said: “I wrote the song in May. My family and I are frequent visitors to Lyme Regis and Charmouth where we spend our time fossil hunting.

“I have been inspired by Mary Anning’s story and wanted to write a song about her.

“Being in lockdown due to the pandemic I took up reading again and I decided to read a few books about Mary’s life because I was missing the beach at Lyme Regis and Charmouth.

“As we were recording the song, I came across the Mary Anning Rocks site and contacted them regarding donating the proceeds to the statue fund.”

All proceeds will go to the Mary Anning Rocks campaign, which was started in 2018 by then 11-year-old Evie Swire with the aim of getting a statue of Mary Anning in Lyme Regis.

Dave added: “I chose the name The Perfect Storm for two reasons.

“Mary survived being struck by lightning as a child and she went on the cause a ‘storm’ throughout her life in the way she challenged the establishment of the day, by the work she did as a palaeontologist.

“The best time to go fossil hunting on the beach is after a storm as it unearths more treasure, hence The Perfect Storm.”

The song is available from iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and other digital platforms.

Dark Sacred Night is made up of Dave Rowley on vocals, acoustic guitar and mandolin, Tony Hinkley on electric and acoustic guitars and Jude Rowley on bass guitar.

The group has opened for acts such as Big Country, The Quireboys, The Alarm, Wishbone Ash and Marseille.