IT may only have taken a pot of glue and a steady rubber-gloved hand, but it proved a job of historic proportions for Gill Snape.

For the student conservator succeeded in restoring what is believed to be the world's largest complete example of fossilised human excrement.

The repair became necessary after the famous poo - deposited in York by some long-forgotten Viking 1,200 years ago - had a nasty accident.

'The Lloyds Bank Turd', as it is indelicately nicknamed, has been admired by thousands of visitors to the city's Archaeological Resource Centre (Arc).

Unfortunately the prize exhibit - unsurprisingly a big hit with the younger visitors - was accidentally dropped during a recent school visit and broke into three pieces.

Yesterday, Miss Snape donned rubber gloves and carefully restored the fossilised faeces to its former glory at York Archaeological Trust's conservation laboratory.

"I heard I may be doing some unusual things while I was here, but I didn't imagine it would include this," said the University of Bradford student.

"It really isn't a problem handling it though."

Measuring 20cm long, the prize specimen was discovered in 1972 during a dig on land now occupied by Lloyds TSB Bank in Pavement, York - hence its nickname.

Its fame and position as the Arc star exhibit has brought it worldwide notoriety.

Ian Carlisle, managing archaeologist at the St Saviourgate centre said: "Getting it fixed is a top priority job as the young visitors to the Arc will miss this popular attraction."

Analysis of the artefact has shown that the Viking who produced it was not a great vegetable eater, with large amounts of meat and grain found in the faeces.

Evidence of several hundred eggs indicated that the Viking's stomach and intestines would also have been full of worms.