AS OCCUPATIONAL hazards go, they don’t get much worse than coming face to face with a Tyrannosaurus Rex – but someone’s got to do it.

Chester Zoo is looking for three lizard lovers to become Dinosaur Keepers.

The successful candidates will have their work cut out supervising 13 robotic dinosaurs from America as part of Chester Zoo’s summer exposition, Dinosaurs at Large!

They will patrol the area of the zoo that is to become the dinosaurs’ new home, taking questions from members of the public and ensuring the prehistoric guests keep any potentially dangerous antics to a minimum.

The new keepers will receive a salary of more than £6 per hour – but must first convince zoo chiefs that they know their stegosaurus from their diplodocus.

Alasdair McNee, Chester Zoo’s Corporate Director, said: “This is the first time any company or institution has advertised for a Dinosaur Keeper, and so it’s fair to say it’s a job that has been 65m years in the making.

“It’s certainly not an ordinary job but a serious, specialist role and we’re prepared to search far and wide to find the right people.

“It’s a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we’re looking for a special few.”

The advert, which has appeared on the government’s JobcentrePlus site and on the zoo’s own vacancies page, said: “The ideal applicants must have excellent verbal communication skills and not be scared of big, sharp teeth.

“They will be confident, outgoing, comfortable talking in front of large crowds and happy shovelling two-tonne piles of T-Rex dung if required.”

DINOSAURS at Large! is at the zoo between July 1 and October 8.